The Hunt
by Katy M VT
Summary: The Benders decided to hunt Sam and Dean after all. But they weren't going to play fair.
1. Chapter 1

"Which one should we hunt? The boy or the bitch?"

Dean shrank back from the disgusting old man. He hunted people? Demons, ghosts, wendigos, of course. Deer and bear, maybe. But, people?

When Dean hadn't answered fast enough the old man touched the fiery poker to his arm. Dean screamed out. That hurt.

"You don't choose, I'll take an eye," he threatened, moving the sharp end of the poker to within millimeters of Dean's eye.

Dean looked at the burning red end. "The guy, the guy, take the guy," he said. He felt like a traitor, but Sam could handle himself better than Kathleen. If he got out of the cage, he'd get them all out.

The old man handed one of his son's a key from around his neck. Dean rolled his eyes. He had really wasted his time looking for it.

"Don't let him out. Shoot him in the cage."

"What? You said you were going to hunt him," Dean protested.

"I lied." The old man laughed showing his yellow teeth.

"You hurt my brother, I'll kill you," Dean threatened.

"Wait. Your brother? That makes a difference. You're right, Jared, they will be fun to hunt." He walked over to Lee and handed him a set of handcuffs. "These are the handcuffs we got off of him," he said nodding towards Dean. "Be careful because he didn't seem to have a key on him, but they're open now. Put them on the _brother_ and bring him in here. You go with him, Jared."

SSS

Sam heard something. He exchanged a look with Kathleen. Dean had been gone about an hour and they had agreed that this was probably not good.

Sam's door swung open and one of the creepy guys was standing there with a gun. He grabbed the bracket he had pulled down earlier and flung it at the guy. He went down.

Jared saw Lee go down and rushed over and grabbed Sam and pushed him down on the floor. Lee got up and grabbed Sam's hands behind him and cuffed them.

"You're going to pay for that, boy," Lee said.

"How?" Jared asked. "Pa didn't say we could hurt him. He said to bring him in the house."

"Pa didn't say we couldn't kill her."

"No," Sam protested.

Jared grinned and stuck the end of his rifle through one of the holes in Kathleen's cage and pulled the trigger. Sam watched helplessly as a red stain spread across her t-shirt. He felt himself being pulled from the floor, a captor on each side of him holding an arm and propelling him out of the barn. He didn't resist them. He wouldn't get far with his hands cuffed behind him, but more importantly he thought they might to take him to Dean—if he wasn't already dead.

"Dean." He was relieved that Dean was alive, but he was tied to a chair and not looking so good. "Are you OK?"

"He's fine," Pa said. "You're the one I would be worried about."

"Why?" Sam gulped.

"Don't touch him," Dean said.

"Keep hold of that one," Pa instructed Jared and Lee and then pulled out his knife. He cut the ropes tying Dean to the chair. "Get up, nice and slow."

Dean got up while Pa backed away.

"Here's what's going to happen. We'll give you a two minute head start. Then we'll come after you."

"Do we get a weapon?" Dean asked, remembering the earlier conversation.

"You have a choice. You can either have a weapon, or your brother. You choose the weapon, we'll shoot your brother right here and now."

"I'll take my brother," Dean said, stating the obvious.

Pa laughed. "I had a feeling you'd say that. "Time starts now."

Jared and Lee let go of Sam's arms. One pointed their gun at him and the other at Dean, so they wouldn't be tempted to cheat and try to attack them here and now.

"Aren't you going to take the cuffs off?"

Pa laughed again. Dean really hated that sound.

"Nope. And he hasn't eaten in the two days he's been here, so I imagine he'll slow you down. Too late to change your mind on the weapon, though. Clock's ticking, boys."

Dean swore and grabbed Sam and pulled him out the door. They had less than two minutes before those crazy people started after them.


	2. Chapter 2

"Come on. The cars." Dean kept pulling Sam along with him.

"Cars?"

"Remember? I told you that I saw a bunch of junk cars," Dean reminded him.

"Do you think any of them will run?" Sam hoped so, otherwise they probably wouldn't have much of a chance.

"I think Kathleen's cruiser will. That reminds me, we have to get help back here pronto for her."

"She's dead," Sam said softly.

Dean briefly closed his eyes. She had been kind of cool for a cop. He couldn't dwell on that right now, though.

They reached the place where Dean had seen all the cars. The cruiser was among them. "Let's go," Dean said.

"The tires are flat," Sam pointed out.

Dean looked around. All the tires on all the cars were flat. "They're just selling parts and want to make sure nobody can escape this way." Dean swore under his breath. He had been counting on this. Now they had eaten up most of their head start and they had to figure out a way of fighting those rednecks off with Sam's hands cuffed behind his back.

"Dean?" Sam asked. His brother was just standing there. They had to go.

Dean turned to look at Sam and they heard hooting. "This way," he decided, heading away from the house. "Sounds like they're going the other direction."

SSS

Pa and his sons headed out of the house.

"Pa, they left nice clear tracks headed off towards the cars," Jared said.

"Let's go in the opposite direction and make lots of noise for a couple of minutes," Pa decided.

"Why?" Lee asked.

"Because these are the smartest animals we've had. If they think we're coming straight for them, they'll try to lay a trap. We know this land. They don't. We're going to circle around and cut them off."

SSS

Dean kept hold of Sam's arm as they ran. They hadn't gone very far when they came up against a barbed wire fence.

"Dean, you can climb over that. Leave me and go," Sam said. He knew he was just slowing Dean down.

"No way," Dean said. "We know the whole property isn't fenced in. We'll just follow the fence until we get to the end of it."

"You do realize that this is their land and they know about this fence and they can just wait for us at the end of it, right?" Sam pointed out.

Dean knew Sam was right, but he also knew there was no way in hell he was leaving him behind to save his own skin. "They went the other direction."

"They'll figure out we didn't go that way before long."

"Do you want to stand here and argue, or try to get out of here?"

Sam sighed.

"Look, there's too many trees close to the fence. Will you promise to stay behind me."

Sam nodded. He knew it was useless. His brother was not going to leave him.

SSS

"OK, let's split up," Pa said. "There's three things they could do. They could hit the barbed wire and walk along it until they come to the end. Jared, you cut over diagonally and cut them off."

Jared loped off in that direction.

"What do you want me to do?" Lee asked.

"They might just try to hide. I need you to scour hiding places."

"What are you going to do?"

"They could have doubled back further up. I'm going to continue on this way."

"Meet back at the house at dawn like usual?"

"Yep. And whoever gets them doesn't have to do any chores all week."

Lee nodded. It was the standard arrangement.

SSS

Sam and Dean trudged on. Sam tripped over something and went down with a loud thud.

"Are you OK?" Dean whispered. He turned around to help his brother up. Hiking through the woods in the dark without the use of your hands was not ideal.

"Yeah," Sam whispered back. "You really should just leave me behind." Sam's stomach growled loudly. Dean remembered what that old man had said about not feeding Sam.

"I wish some of these trees were apple trees," Dean muttered.

They started walking again and Sam stumbled a few minutes later. "I can't go any further."

"Yes, you can," Dean said.

"Can't we just rest a minute?" Sam begged.

Dean wanted to say yes, but he couldn't. Every second counted. "Sammy, come on!"

Sam struggled to his feet.

"Wait a second," Dean said. "There's something over there."

"What?" Sam asked, not all that interested.

"A shed. Maybe it will have something we can use. Looks like you get your break after all. Stay here. I'll be right back."

"OK," Sam readily agreed and sank down to the ground and closed his eyes. He was so tired.

Dean didn't like the looks of Sam, but didn't have time to worry about that right now. He hurried over to the shed and opened it. He was disappointed to see that it looked mostly empty, but it did have a cupboard. He went over and opened it. He jumped back when a rat came crawling out.

"Stupid rats."

There was a can of food and a can opener. He strained to read the label. It was peaches. Perfect. He opened the can and carried them out to Sam.

"Wake up."

"What?" Sam asked.

"I found peaches."

Dean dug one out with his hand. "Open up."

Sam's first thought was gross, but his hunger overcame it. He opened his mouth and Dean popped in a peach.

"Oh, isn't that sweet?"

Sam and Dean looked up to find Jared standing over them with a very sharp spear-like weapon.


	3. Chapter 3

Lee was making his way through the property, looking in all the usual hiding places. These hunts were getting to be too routine. He would talk to Pa about it. He thought maybe next time they should bring the animal up to the mountain and set it free to hunt up there. The terrain wasn't as familiar. It would be more of a challenge.

SSS

Missy was stewing in the little house. It wasn't fair that she was never allowed to hunt just because she was a girl. By the time they were her age Jared and Lee had already killed a couple of people. Well, maybe the hunt wasn't over. She grabbed a knife and stalked out of the house. She would show her Pa she was as good of a hunter as either one of her brothers.

SSS

Pa decided to turn back from the far side of the property. His first instinct had been correct. They had gone for the cars and been forced towards the fence. Lee or Jared had probably gotten them by now and it would be time to start in on the butchering.

SSS

"Isn't that sweet?" Jared asked sarcastically as he came upon the brothers, one of them feeding the other one.

Dean turned towards the voice to find the hunter standing over him with a spear.

"Why are you doing this?" Sam asked. He truly wanted to know. He hated hunting. He only did it to save people. He couldn't imagine doing it for the fun of it. He couldn't imagine taking delight in someone else's pain.

Jared considered a moment. The animals usually didn't talk to him just as he was about to kill them unless it was begging for mercy. But, it wouldn't hurt to answer. He always felt bad that they never game them a last request like in those old westerns.

"Well, I've always done it. Pa says it's our tradition."

"You don't have to," Sam said.

Dean was torn between rolling his eyes and being grateful for the distraction. Only Sam would try to emotionally connect with a psychopath.

"Naw. If I don't kill you, my Pa'd kill me. Besides, whoever makes the kill gets out of chores for a week." He smiled for a second thinking of all the relaxation he was going to get in the coming week.

"You could just let us go," Sam tried again.

"You know, we thought this hunt was going to be a lot harder. I have the handcuff keys that I took off that cop. I'll kill your brother and then unlock you and we can start the hunt again." Then he raised his spear up to bring it down on Dean.

Dean had been using the time Sam had been talking to quietly reposition himself slightly. Now he was ready and he lunged up, knocking Jared to the ground. He grabbed the spear out of his hands and brought it down stabbing him. Jared screamed.

Sam turned his head away. That piercing scream sounded exactly like Jenkins' scream of the night before. Only this one was so much closer.

Dean looked back. "Don't tell me you're feeling sorry for this guy, Sammy. He's done this to plenty of people and was going to do it to us, too." He rolled Jared over and was looking through his pockets. He found a gun. He pulled it out and stuck it in the waistband of his jeans. Then he found what he had been looking for, the handcuff keys.

SSS

Lee heard the scream. Sounded like the hunt was over. He ran off in that direction. Seeing as how they were hunting two animals he was a little concerned by hearing only one scream, but it was probably just a matter of time until the second one. If he got there quick enough, both he and Jared would chore-free this week and their Pa would be doing all of them. He laughed to himself.

His laughter quickly died as he came upon the scene. This was not how it was supposed to go at all. His brother was dead and the two animals were kneeling in front of him. The older one had apparently found the keys to cuffs and was about to undo them.

Lee quickly pulled out his gun and pointed it at the younger brother. "Put the keys down."

Dean was already looking at him. He had heard the crashing of the leaves, but just hadn't reacted in time.

Lee pulled back the hammer of the gun. "NOW!" There was no way he was just going to shoot these guys. They had to suffer for what they had done to Jared. Jared was his younger brother. It was his job to protect him. Pa had always said so.

Dean held his hands out and put the keys on the ground. He didn't really have a choice. This time Sam was between him and the gun-wielding maniac. He certainly wouldn't have been able to get the cuffs off of him before a bullet would have pierced his chest. He shuddered at the thought of his brother with a bullet in his chest.

Sam looked into Lee's cold eyes. He was different than Jared. He wasn't doing this because his father had gotten him into it. He loved it. But, there was something else in his eyes, too. Sam knew that look. It was the look of a fierce, protective brother. How could Sam not know that look? He saw it in Dean's eyes all the time. He knew there would be no talking this one down. Would Dean back down if he had come across Sam's killers? Sam knew the answer to that one. He closed his eyes and waited for the bullet to come.


	4. Chapter 4

Missy decided just to head for the road and cut them off. She knew how the hunts normally worked and if they did any of the normal things the hunt would be over anyway.

SSS

Pa was almost back to the house. He would cut up diagonally towards the road and see if he could find everybody. They should have caught the prey by now.

SSS

Lee was trying to figure out how to make this hurt the most. Physically and emotionally. He came up with a plan.

"Stand up," he said.

Dean started to stand and Lee kicked him in the stomach. "Not you."

Dean would have loved to have grabbed his leg, but he had already heard him take the safety off the gun and it was pointed directly at Sam's head.

Sam struggled to his feet.

"Leave him alone," Dean begged.

Lee ignored him. He was going to walk the younger brother a few yards away and then rip into his gut with his knife. Not enough to kill him right off. Enough to put him in a great deal of pain and ensure that he would bleed to death within an hour. Then Lee would run off. He knew the older brother would stay with the younger. Lee would then circle around and watch as he felt the same pain Lee had when he had come upon the body of his younger brother. Then he would shoot the older brother from his hiding spot.

He grabbed Sam's arm and spun him around, wrapping his arm around his chest. His plan required that he put a little distance between them and using the kid as a shield with a gun to his head ought to keep the older brother rooted to the ground.

Dean watched as Lee backed up with Sam. He knew that he was going to kill him, but there was nothing he could do about it. If he moved at all, he would just hasten Sam's death.

Lee relished the look in Dean's eyes. It was hard to see in the dark, but the terror was there. He wondered how long he could draw this out.

"What would you do if I let him live?" Lee asked. Wasn't really an option, but might be a fun game.

"Anything," Dean said without hesitation.

"Would you gut yourself while we watched?"

"Dean, no," Sam protested.

Dean would do it in a heartbeat except for one thing. "How would I know you would actually let him go?"

"He doesn't actually love you if he won't kill himself for you," Lee whispered in Sam's ears.

Sam rolled his eyes. He wouldn't want Dean to kill himself for him, but he had no doubt that he would if the circumstances were right. He was just glad that there was no way Dean could know whether or not this animal would let him go. Odds were certainly against it.

He took his arm that was wrapped around Sam's chest and brought his hand slowly up his arm and rubbed up his neck to his cheek. "We heard what you and that other guy were talking about yesterday. Seemed like you might be into it?"

Sam took a second before he figured out what he was talking about. "You're not really my type," he muttered.

"Good because you're definitely not mine," Lee resonded.

Sam breathed a sigh of relief. If this idiot had wanted to rape him there wouldn't have been much he could do about it.

Dean was getting restless. He shifted on his knees in preparation to getting up. The hand that was at Sam's cheek moved like lightning and was now encircling his throat. Sam was gasping for breath.

"Don't even think about it. But, since you seem to want to get this over with, I guess I'm ready." Lee pushed Sam down to the ground on his butt and put his gun away so that he could take out his knife.

As soon as Sam was clear and the knife was out of sight, Dean grabbed Jared's knife from his waist and in one swift movement aimed and fired.

Lee didn't even have time to react or process the fact that he had been shot. He fell down dead and landed squarely on top of Sam.

"SAM!" Dean yelled and rushed over. He pulled Lee off of Sam and helped Sam up. "Are you OK?"

"Yeah, I think so. Thanks."

"Don't mention it."

SSS

Pa heard the shot. It was a ways off, but it appeared the hunt was successful or was about to be. He let out one of his family centuries old war-whoot and loped off in that direction.

SSS

Missy heard the shot, too. She sighed in frustration. She had missed out on another hunt. She debated about whether to turn back and go home before she got in trouble or to go towards her brothers and help them with the carcasses. She decided she didn't care if she got in trouble. Helping with the carcasses might help prove she was ready to hunt. She set off in the direction of the shot.

SSS

"That yell sounded kind of far away. We can take a second to get these cuffs off of you and then get the hell out of here," Dean said.

They walked back over the few feet to where Dean had dropped the keys. As soon as the cuffs were off, Sam reached into the can of peaches, grabbed a few and stuffed them in his mouth. "Let's go."

"You want more?" Dean asked. They really should hurry, but Sam needed his strength.

"We don't have time. Besides, if I were to eat a whole can of peaches, we would have different problems."

Dean chuckled. "Hadn't thought of that. Let's get out of here."

They started walking at as fast a pace as Dean dared. He had no doubt that there might be bear traps or some kind of booby traps around. Plus, there was one more crazed psychopath still hunting them.


	5. Chapter 5

Pa made it to the fence. He saw his two sons lying dead on the ground. He had to find those two animals and make them pay. How could they have hurt his family like this?

SSS

"We've been walking forever," Sam whined.

"So help me if you ask how much further," Dean groused good-naturedly.

A couple of seconds later, Dean heard two things at the same time, the clink of metal and a truncated scream from Sam.

"Sorry," Sam whispered.

Dean wasn't sure if he was sorry for stepping in the bear trap or for yelling. "It's OK, Sammy."

Dean knelt down next to Sam and tried to pry it open. It wouldn't budge. " I need a thick branch or something," Dean said.

"There was that tree down with all those branches on the ground about five minutes back," Sam remembered.

Dean hesitated. He didn't want to leave Sam alone. "Do you think you can walk?"

Sam looked down at the bear trap and his eyes followed the chain which was wrapped around the tree and fastened with a padlock. "Just go and get the branch and come back. It'll be faster," Sam said. He wanted the thing off. It would be faster for Dean to go by himself than to first pick the lock and have Sam slow him down even if it would only be a one way trip.

"Fine," Dean said. He hurried off back in the direction they came. He could probably do it in about half the time without Sam and would be back in five minutes or less.

SSS

"He left you? Serves you right. Killing my boys. What did they ever do to you?"

Sam looked up. Was he serious? What had they done to him? He didn't answer, but it was OK, because it was more of a rhetorical question anyway.

"I got plans for you, boy," Pa said and punched Sam in order to knock him senseless. He didn't want him out long, just a few moments.

He quickly ripped Sam's shirt off and cut into strips. He grabbed his keys and unlocked the chain from around the tree. He rolled Sam over, pulled his wrists behind him and wrapped the chain around them and attached the padlock. He grabbed a strip of the shirt and shoved it in Sam's mouth. This woke him up as he started gagging.

"Stop your whining," Pa instructed, and pulled it out a little. He didn't want him dying too soon. They had to suffer. He took another strip and tied it around. "How's that?"

Pa saw a movement in the woods. He took his knife and flung it at the figure. He saw his target fall to the ground.

"Dean," Sam mumbled behind his gag. Dean probably would have gotten away by now if it hadn't been for him.

"Well, now I guess it's just you and me. I wanted to kill you both nice and slow, but guess he got to go fast and you'll go slow. I've never butchered an animal alive before. How many parts do you think I can cut off before you die?"

He kicked Sam to roll him over again. "This will probably be uncomfortable," Pa said. He grabbed the chain and started dragging Sam along the rough ground. Pine needles and twigs were grating against Sam's bare torso. Sam moaned beneath his gag.

"Want to take a look at your dead brother? Maybe he's not quite dead yet. We can watch him taking his last breath. Maybe I can step on his lungs and watch him squirt out blood."

Pa dragged Sam over to where he had seen his target fall. "NOOOO!"

Sam had turned his head away as best he could. He hadn't wanted to see his brother's dead body. He couldn't understand why the old man would be upset though so he turned to look. It wasn't Dean's body. It was Missy's. She wasn't quite dead, though.

"Daddy," she whimpered.

"What are you doing here, sweetheart?"

"I came to help," she whispered, then her eyes closed.

"Missy? Missy?" There was no answer.

"This is all your fault," Pa yelled and kicked Sam in the stomach. He then grabbed the chain and started pulling Sam back to the house. He wasn't going to die until tomorrow. Maybe the day after, but he would be dying the whole time.

SSS

Dean was just grabbing a stick when he heard a loud yell. It wasn't Sam's voice, but it was coming from the same general direction of where he had been left. Dean took off running, heedless of any danger. He had to get back to Sam.

When he arrived back at the tree Sam was gone. The sun was just starting to come up. It had been the longest night of Dean's life and he had a feeling the day wasn't going to be any shorter. The good news was that Sam was clearly being dragged and would be easy to track. He started following the sloppy trail. Just a few feet over, he found the body of Missy with a knife sticking out of her. Obviously her father's handiwork. Dean had stupidly forgotten to leave Sam a weapon. He couldn't imagine how he would feel if he accidentally killed Sam while trying to off a ghost. He almost felt sorry for the geezer. Almost.

He didn't have time to waste. He took off and followed in the wake of the moved around debris. He could be fairly certain of not stepping into another trap that way.

He slowed up when he heard something up ahead.

"First, I'll cut off each toe and each finger. Then your hands and then your feet. I think I'll poke your eyes out."

Dean crept forward as quietly as he could. Luckily the taunting was covering what little sound he was making. He took his gun and aimed. He pulled the trigger and watched as Pa fell on top of Sam.

"Sam!" he yelled. He couldn't be sure that he had killed the hunter and wanted to make sure he couldn't still hurt his brother.


	6. Chapter 6

Sam's back was arched into an unnatural position. He was being dragged along the rough ground at a demanding pace. He grunted every couple of minutes. He hated to give his torturer the satisfaction, but he couldn't hold it in.

He heard a laugh and then that gravelly voice telling him everything that he was going to do to him. He hoped he would be dead before they made it back to the house.

He heard a gunshot, then felt himself fall completely onto the ground and then a large weight on him. He wanted to get the weight off of himself, but he couldn't move.

"SAMMY!"

_Dean._

Dean ran up to them. He had to make sure he had killed the old man. He quickly felt for a pulse. He almost felt ashamed when for the first time in his life he was glad there was no pulse in someone he was checking. Almost. Then he rolled the body off of Sam and any pity he had instantly dissolved.

Sam was face down. Dean checked for a pulse and this time was gratified to find one. He slowly rolled Sam over. Sam whimpered.

"It's OK, Sammy. They're all dead."

All of them? Sam hadn't remembered seeing the third son anywhere during the hunt, but if Dean said they were all dead, then they must be.

Dean took the stick or branch that he had left Sam to get it and wedged it into the bear trap. He used it as a lever and managed to separate it.

Sam had never felt such pain in his life. Over the course of the night, just when he thought things couldn't get worse or more painful he was proven wrong again and again. This time, though, he passed out.

"Sam? Sam? How am I supposed to get you out of here if you fall asleep on me?" Dean grumbled.

"This way!" he heard a yell.

He looked to see several men in uniforms approaching. They couldn't see him yet. He got up and took off. If Kathleen knew, it was a safe bet that the whole department would know that he was impersonating a cop. He would trust them to get Sammy to a hospital and figure out how to get to him in a few hours.

After all, there was nothing wrong with Sam that a few stitches and some antibiotics wouldn't fix. He kept telling himself that as he put distance between himself and the cops, and as a result, also his brother.

SSS

Billy Bob was just finishing his shift when the ambulance came in. The farm hadn't been making much money in the past few years, so Pa had made him take a job as a janitor at the hospital. He missed out on a lot of the hunts because of that, but he didn't mind one bit. He hated hunting. Not because he thought it was wrong or anything like that. But for other reasons that he hadn't been able to convince his family of. They hadn't wanted to go along with his ideas.

As soon as he saw the patient being brought it on the stretcher, he knew it was their latest prey. If he had gotten away, that probably meant that his family had been arrested.

He stuck around the hospital long enough to find out that he would definitely be kept overnight. Since he knew that he could definitely find him again later, he decided to go find out what had happened to his family. There weren't any other ambulances or police cars coming here, so they weren't injured, which was good. They were either at the police station or on the run. He would see if he could find out without getting arrested himself.

SSS

Dean sneaked into the hospital just after dawn. The halls were nearly deserted. Most of the patients were asleep and didn't notice him poking his head into each door checking the inhabitants for his brother. Those who did merely thought he had every right to be there and had just poked his head in the wrong room, probably just one room over.

He finally found his brother. "Sammy?" he whispered.

Sam's eyes fluttered open. "Dean," he whispered back. "You're OK."

"I'm OK? Why wouldn't I be? You're the one that kept getting in trouble."

Sam looked down at his hands.

"I didn't mean it like that," Dean relented.

"I was just worried because you weren't here when I woke up and the doctors didn't seem to know anything about you."

"I took off when the cops came. I knew they would take care of you and I also knew that they knew I was posing as a cop."

"Oh. So, we should probably get out of here," Sam summarized.

"Yep."

There was a wheel chair next to the other bed. Dean pulled it over.

"I think he needs that," Sam whispered, meaning his roommate.

"We're only taking it as far as the car. I'm sure he'll get it back," Dean said, already helping Sam into it. He wheeled him out of the room and out the doctor's entrance, into the parking garage. Nobody had seen them.

As soon as Dean got Sam settled in the passenger seat, he ran around to the driver's side and started the engine. Once on the road, he breathed a sigh of relief. "We'll head a couple of towns over and take a few days off," Dean promised.

"Sounds good," Sam admitted. He was still really sore, and his leg would need at least a week to heal up. He sucked in a breath as the pain seemed to appear with the thought of it.

"You OK?" Dean asked.

"Yeah."

SSS

Billy Bob had found out his family had died. All of them. Even Missy. He headed back to the hospital. That animal was going to pay. He had always thought it ridiculous that Pa had made them always refer to them as animals, but in this case it was true.

"Billy Bob, you don't work this early?" one of the nurses greeted him.

"I'm here to visit a friend actually," he said. "He came in last night by ambulance." It probably wasn't a good idea to associate himself with his intended victim, but he had to leave town anyway. When he had called his uncle to tell him what happened, he had invited him to stay with them.

"The one that had been attacked or something out in the boonies?"

"That's him," Billy Bob confirmed.

"He ran out on his bill this morning. Turned out his insurance was fake, too," the nurse quipped. She realized she shouldn't have said that, but then decided lawbreakers didn't deserve protections of the law, either.

Billy Bob quickly left. If he had fake insurance all his info was probably fake. He would have no way of finding him. His face was burned into his memory, though, so if he ever showed up in Wisconsin, he would remember him.


	7. Chapter 7

The rest of that day had been hard for Sam. Dean had wanted to get them well away from that town and of course Sam agreed with that. But, that had meant a few hours of sitting in the Impala. The car was uncomfortable for Sam on the best of days, but today, it was sheer agony.

He hadn't said anything to Dean, though. Everything had been all his fault. If he had hadn't let _humans _get the jump on him, he wouldn't be in pain in the first place.

They had finally stopped around dinner time. They had decided to just order a pizza. Sam wanted a shower more than anything. "I think the hot water will feel good," he said when he basically demanded the shower first. They had always gone in order of seniority and Sam was pretty sure that he had not gotten a hot shower until he left for Stanford. His dad had majorly been into long showers.

"Yeah, OK," Dean agreed. For the first time he realized that a whole day in the car hadn't been his best idea ever. But, they would stop here for a few days and Sam would get healed up.

SSS

After they had eaten, Sam had taken something for the pain. Dean just watched him sleep for a while. He couldn't believe how close he had coming to losing him. It was true that this was definitely not Sam's first close call with death. But, this time was different. He'd never just gone missing before. Well, besides the time he had run away and don't think Dean wasn't still mad about that. But, this was the first time something had taken him and it had taken longer than an hour to catch up with the fugly. And this was also the first time he had watched his brother being beaten and threatened. Monsters usually just attacked to kill. He decided to get some sleep himself. If he kept thinking about this he would go nuts.

SSS

Somewhere deep down, Sam knew this was a dream. But, that didn't help his fear level any. He was tied to a table. He was lying face up and staring straight into that old man's dirty face. The old man was laughing as he held a butcher knife above his head. Suddenly he brought it swinging down…

Sam sat straight up. He was breathing hard. He looked over to make sure Dean was still asleep. He was relieved to find out he hadn't woken him up. It's a little embarrassing to admit to having nightmares at this age—even if you do have a good reason.

SSS

The sun streamed into the hotel room. Dean wiped the sun and sleep out of his eyes. He sat up and looked at the next bed. Sam was already up. Dean figured he was probably in the bathroom. He went out to get breakfast.

When he opened the door, he saw a man holding a knife to Sam's neck. "What do you want?" Dean asked.

"What do you mean?" the man asked.

"What do you want to let him go?"

"What makes you think I want anything? Better question, what makes you think it's anything you can give me? What I want is to tell you what you already know."

"What's that?"

"Sam's not as good of a hunter as you are. Anybody can jump him. And you won't always be able to save him."

"Dean, help me," Sam begged.

The knife wielder laughed. "He can't." Then he slit Sam's throat.

Dean bolted upright in bed. Sam wasn't in his. He heard the shower running. Dean rushed in. He had to make sure.

"Dude," Sam protested from the shower. He had woken up pretty stiff, so he had decided on another shower, even though he had had one shortly before he had gone to bed.

Dean was kind of embarrassed. "I really have to go," he continued. "Can't hold it."

"Oh. OK," Sam said. He thought that was a little odd, but if you gotta go, you gotta go.

SSS

Billy Bob arrived at his aunt and uncle's a couple days after his family's death.

"We're so sorry," his uncle said.

"Thanks," Billy Bob muttered. His father and uncle had had a falling out a few years ago. His aunt and uncle had won the lottery and decided they shouldn't hunt any more. Like they were better than them somehow.

"Where are Ben and Jason?" he asked about his cousins. He remembered that he and Jason had gone on their first hunt the same time. It was a real bonding experience.

"Jason's at a job interview. Since we won the lottery we were able to send him to college. He has an engineering degree."

Billy Bob fought not to roll his eyes. There they went again, acting all better.

His uncle cleared his throat. "Look, your father was my brother and I would never have turned him in or anything, but I hope this tragedy has convinced you of the evils of hunting."

"Actually, I got a job a few months ago because I didn't want to hunt anymore." It wasn't precisely the truth. He didn't want to hunt exactly, because he had a better ideas.

"I'm glad to hear that," his uncle said, relieved. He wouldn't have hunting on his property. More like his estate. They had been very careful with their money. They weren't going to become one of those morons who won the lottery and then went bankrupt a couple of years later. They had bought a couple of the surrounding farms, but they had been cheap due to the poor economy and they sent their sons to college. Everything else was carefully invested and saved.

A car pulled up through the gate. "Hey, Billy Bob. It's been forever."

"Hey, Ben," Billy Bob greeted. "What have you been up to?"

"I'm in my sophomore year in college. Studying psychology."

Psychology and engineering. That was perfect. Billy Bob sincerely hoped he could get his cousins on board.

A/N: I know, not a very exciting chapter, just trying to set the stage for Sam and Dean's fears and feelings and Billy Bob's family situation for the next part.


	8. Chapter 8

Billy Bob found an opportunity to get his cousins apart. He had to sound them out carefully. "So, what's it like, not hunting?"

"It sucks," Jason said. "Admit it. There's nothing like it."

Ben nodded along enthusiastically.

"But, you got to go to college. You'll have great careers."

Ben rolled his eyes. "That's the really stupid part. Our parents won $100 million dollars in the lottery. We wouldn't ever have to work if they would loosen the purse strings a bit. I do find the human mind fascinating, though."

Perfect, Billy Bob thought.

"What about you, Jason?"

"I would love to use my engineering expertise on building better hunting grounds."

"Ever think of moving out and getting your own place where you can hunt?" He hoped the answer was no. He got the answer he was hoping for.

"No. We're just waiting for the folks to die. Then we'll inherit everything and we'll have all this land for hunting."

Billy Bob was hoping this next thought wouldn't be going too far. "Ever think of hurrying the process up?"

"Yeah, but the problem with murdering someone close to you is that you're the prime suspect," Ben pointed out.

"I have a plan if you're game," Billy Bob offered.

Ben and Jason exchanged a glance and nodded.

Billy Bob beamed. This was going to be great.

SSS

It had been three days since Dean had busted Sam out of the hospital. He had gone out in the mornings while Sam was in the shower and would get food for the whole day. Sam hadn't been out of the hotel room and was beginning to feel like a captive again.

He started towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Dean asked in an almost panicky voice. He couldn't let anybody get to Sam.

"For a walk. I want to stretch my legs," Sam said.

"No," Dean said.

"No?" Sam asked, incredulous. "You're telling me I can't go for a walk?" he asked. He shook his head and turned back to the door.

Dean jumped up and placed himself between Sam and the door. "You're not serious?" Sam protested.

"'Fraid so," Dean said. "You got jumped. You're hurt. I can't trust you not to get taken again."

Sam tried to go around Dean, but Dean pushed him back. Sam, not being up to full speed yet, ended up falling on his butt.

"I'm sorry, Sammy," Dean said. He couldn't believe he just pushed his brother. Yes, they'd fought before. He'd punched Sam and shoved him, pushed him, but this was different. Sam wasn't fighting with him. And he was already not up to par.

He leaned over to help Sam up, but Sam scooted back from him. It made him feel even worse, but he knew he deserved it.

Sam wasn't sure if Dean would let him leave or not and he decided not to test the theory. He just got up and went in the bathroom and slammed the door. He realized he was acting like a three-year old. On the other hand, Dean should know it's probably not the best idea to not allow someone who had recently spent two days in a cage to leave.

SSS

The night of his parents' funeral, Ben laid in his bed and smiled. Billy Bob sure was smart. His parents had been part of a church that had been getting threatened because they allowed gay people to attend. The three of them had gone and set fire to the place while they were having a night meeting. 150 people died. That was the best part. There was no reason to suspect that they were killed for the money. They were just two more people in the church. He giggled himself to sleep.

SSS

"Sammy, want to go out and get some breakfast?" Dean asked. It was a peace offering for the night before.

Sam sighed in relief. So, he would be leaving this room after all. He guessed he could understand why Dean had gone a little nuts. It appeared now that he realized he was going overboard. No need to beat a dead horse. "Sounds good."

"Want to drive?" Dean asked, trying to extend the olive branch even further.

Sam smiled. He recognized the offer for what it was. "No, but thanks anyway."

They got in the car and drove to a nearby diner. They got out of the car. Dean looked nervously at a couple of guys who were sitting on the hood of their car looking at a map. He angled himself between them and Sam. He thought he was being subtle. He was wrong.

"What are you doing?" Sam turned towards him. He saw Dean glancing back at the two men.

"Are you serious?" he whispered. He wanted to shout, but he didn't want a whole scene. "This is ridiculous." He went in the diner and sat down at a table.

Dean joined him shortly. "I can't help it. Maybe if you could tell me how those guys got the jump on you, I could stop worrying about it."

"I don't know. They hit me on the head. I don't really even remember leaving the bar," Sam admitted. "But come on. I've been hunting much nastier things than humans. They just got lucky. It's not going to happen again."

"I know that in my head, but I just worry."

"Look, I'm going to take off for a week," Sam decided.

"What?" Dean asked.

"I still need a few days of healing before I can go up against anything. I'll call you every night to reassure you that nothing got me. And at the end of a week, I'll call you and let you know where you can come get me. I think you'll be calmer by then."

"Where are you going?" Dean asked.

"So, you can spy on me? I don't think so. Besides, I don't know yet."

"How will you get there?"

"I'll hitch a ride."

"No way. Take the Impala."

"Forget it. You'd worry more about the car than me. Besides, this way you'll know I was around humans who didn't get me. It will be fine. I promise."

"Fine," Dean said grudgingly. "Can you just do me a favor and not ask those two guys outside for a ride. They really give me a bad vibe."

"Fine. I won't." Sam got up and left. It took everything Dean had not to follow him out.


	9. Chapter 9

As soon as the investigation was complete, the Benders started working on their new schemes. The arson remained unsolved, but the cousins weren't even considered suspects. It was being called a hate crime and while technically still open, there was no physical evidence and nobody expected an arrest to ever be made.

SSS

Sam called Dean the last night of his week's vacation. "I'm in Chicago," he said.

Dean hated to admit that Sam was right, but he was. With Sam calling in every night, Dean realized he was capable of taking care of himself. He had known that all along he had just got scared. With good reason, but it wouldn't have been good to smother the poor kid. Anyway, each night he had been less and less worried as the time's for Sam call approached and when the phone rang now he hadn't even been checking his watch.

"Having fun?"

"Actually, I think I found a case."

"Yeah?"

"I'll fill you in when you get here," Sam promised.

"OK. I'm actually only a few hours away. I'll call you when I get close."

SSS

Dean called Sam from just outside of town. "Meet me at this bar on Jefferson. It's where one of the victims worked," Sam said. "I'm checking some stuff out, but I'll be there soon."

"OK," Dean agreed. He never minded going to a bar.

SSS

Dean was asking the bartender about the murdered waitress. He was also getting her number, of course.

Sam walked in and saw his brother. He wasn't too surprised to see him talking to a girl. He waved him over.

"Excuse me," Dean said and walked over to meet Sam. He carefully kept his face neutral. It was ridiculous at getting all excited over a reunion after a separation of a week.

"What did you find out?" Dean asked.

"Lots. First of all, both the victims are from Lawrence. Second, there were these symbols at the last murder scene. I looked them up and there Zoroastrian."

"That's weird," Dean noted. "Anything else?"

Sam was about to say no when someone caught his eye. He knew her. It took him a couple of seconds to place her. When he had, he impulsively got up and walked over to her.

"Sam?" Dean asked. He saw where he was headed. Maybe Sam was ready to get back into the dating game.

Dean went over to join them. They ignored him and he cleared his throat. He got no response, so he did it again.

"Dude, cover your throat," the girl admonished.

"I'm sorry, Meg. This is my brother, Dean."

"Oh. This is Dean?"

Dean was pleased that she had heard of him. That pleasure was short-lived.

"Nice the way you treat your brother? Why do you drag him around like luggage?"

"What?" Dean asked.

"It's OK, Meg."

Dean walked away. It looked like they were exchanging numbers. Apparently Sam had spent the last week complaining about him.

He walked out and was soon followed by Sam. "Do you really feel like I treat you like luggage?"

"No, Dean. I met her back in Indiana when we were fighting. Something weird is going on?"

"What do you mean?"

"It's weird that I would run into her on a case."

"Random coincidence."

"I might think that, but I noticed that she was wearing a necklace in the shape of that Zoroastrian symbol."

"OK. That's weird. We should follow her."

Sam agreed.

SSS

Shortly thereafter, they climbed up the elevator shaft of an old warehouse and watched Meg summoning something, or talking to something.

She was arguing and she ended up walking off. Sam and Dean climbed up and examined the altar. "What do you think?" Dean asked.

"I think I've got you."

Sam and Dean spun around to see Meg. Apparently she hadn't left after all. They felt themselves being attacked, but couldn't see anything. Until they turned to the wall. Then they saw the shadows of something.

SSS

Meg had gone through Sam's pockets. She held his cell phone in his hands. Both the boys woke up at once. She idly wondered what the chances of that were.

"What do you want?" Dean asked.

"Your father," she grinned. She dialed his number.

"He never answers," Sam said.

"Guess, I'll just have to leave a message then. John, I have both your boys. If you don't show up at an old warehouse in Chicago by dawn, I'll have to kill both of them." She snapped her fingers and Sam found himself being clawed by the shadow again. He screamed. "Hear that? That was little Sammy. He'll go first and painfully." She hung the phone up. The shadow retreated.

"Why are you doing this?" Dean asked.

Meg went over to him and taunted him. Sam wasn't paying much attention. Meg had missed a knife while searching him. He was quietly cutting through his ropes. He just about had them when she turned her attention to him.

She kneeled in front of him and he pulled his hands forward grabbed her and knocked his head against hers. He decided that wasn't the best idea right after he had done it. "Sam, the altar," Dean yelled, bringing him back to the purpose.

Sam ran up and knocked it over. Meg was pulled out the window by the shadows. Sam went and untied Dean and they went back to their hotel.

When they walked in there was a figure by the window. "Who are you?" Dean asked.

The man turned around revealing himself to be their father.

"Dad?" Dean said. It was all he got out. They were again being attacked by those annoying shadows.

"Cover your eyes," Sam shouted. "If these are shadow demons, let's light them up." Sam lit the room up and they snuck out under the cover of light.

"I have to leave you boys," John said.

"But, Dad," Sam protested.

"Sammy, I know we haven't seen each other in a long time. I just want you to know I was never disappointed in you. I've always been so proud. But, it's too dangerous to be together now." With that he ran off.

SSS

The next day, they each reviewed the hunt in his own mind.

Dean realized Sam had single-handedly saved them twice in the same night. He really didn't need to worry about him any more than any other hunter. He was his equal. What happened in Minnesota really was an isolated incident.

Sam realized that Dean hadn't coddled him or overprotected him. He had let him do his job.

They both realized they were going to be OK.

A/N: I promise the Benders will put their mysterious plan into motion next chapter. I realize from the reviews people thought it was going to happen this chapter and I apologize, but that was never my intent. I needed a transition and I'm sorry it took three chapters to get through it. On with the action.


	10. Chapter 10

"OK. We're finally all set. Let's grab our first," Billy Bob said.

"From a local bar?" Jason asked.

"No. We'll do it totally random. We point to a place on a map and that's where we go. That way they won't even be local."

"Good thinking," Ben approved. He grabbed a map.

Billy Bob closed his eyes and pointed. "Red Lodge, Montana," he declared when he opened his eyes. That was a fair way to go, but that would probably work to their advantage.

SSS

Sam and Dean were in the bar with their new found hunting partner, Gordon Walker. There was something about him that Sam didn't like—or trust.

He sat there listening to his hunting stories with more and more unease. He seemed to be taking too great a delight in it.

SSS

When they got a few miles away from Red Lodge, they filled up the van's gas tank and muddied up the license plate. They would have to get in and out pretty quick so that they didn't attract any attention.

SSS

"I gotta hit the head," Gordon said and headed off to the bathroom.

When he was gone, Sam said, "Doesn't he bother you?"

"What do you mean?" Dean asked.

"He seems to enjoy hunting a little too much."

Dean rolled his eyes. For someone that hated hunting, any enjoyment of the job would be too much. "He's just a hunter. I like him."

"I don't. I don't think you do either. Not really. I think you just miss Dad and you're trying to connect with someone else in the same way."

Dean slammed his empty beer glass on the table. "I told you to stop bringing up Dad," he growled.

"Dean."

"No, I mean it. You're the one who feels guilty. And you should. Dad always did everything for you and you never appreciated it. I would have killed for half the attention he gave you," Dean practically yelled.

"What are you talking about?" Dean had clearly been Dad's favorite.

"You got to have a life outside of hunting. I never did. I knew about it since I was five. He sheltered you."

Sam was shocked. He never realized that Dean felt that way. "Dean…"

"Just go back to the hotel, Sam. Let me enjoy the rest of the night."

"Fine," Sam agreed. Dean was taking Dad's death really hard. He would give him some time.

Sam got half way to the door, when Dean called him back. "Take the keys." It was as much of a peace offering as he was capable of right now.

"Thanks," Sam said.

SSS

They were sitting outside of the first bar they had come to. They were waiting for a single person to come out.

"That's the guy that killed my family," Billy Bob said in amazement.

He and Jason were sitting in the front of the van. Ben was sitting in the back. "Want to go for him?"

"Oh, yeah."

Sam was heading across to the far side of the parking lot. He was going to have to pass right by the van. Billy Bob couldn't believe his luck. "Now," he said, when Sam was just behind the van. They had this timed out.

Jason had the door slightly ajar so he wouldn't make any noise opening it. They had disabled the interior light so that nobody would notice. Jason was right behind Sam when Ben swung open the van door knocking Sam into Jason. Jason had prepared a cloth soaked with chloroform as soon as Billy Bob had pointed him out. He placed the cloth over Sam's nose and mouth and pushed him forward at the same time that Ben grabbed him and pulled him in. Billy Bob had just leaned over and closed Jason's door. Ben closed the back door. Billy Bob started driving. Sam was struggling through all of this, but by the time the van got to the end of the road, he had stilled.

SSS

"Where'd Sam go?" Gordon asked.

"He took off," Dean said.

"Something I said?" He had noticed that Sam didn't seem to be that impressed with him.

"No. He just gets that way sometimes," Dean said. He was already feeling bad about what he said.

SSS

Ben and Jason flipped the unconscious Sam over and handcuffed him. They put shackles around his feet and blindfolded him. Then they fastened the five straps around the surfboard they had placed him on. He was too tall for it, but he was still fairly well restrained. Jason climbed back in the front seat and Ben remained next to Sam.

SSS

Gordon and Dean started over towards Gordon's car when Dean stopped short.

"What is it?"

"My car is still here. I gave Sam the keys."

"Think vamps got him?" Gordon asked.

That was the most likely scenario. Dean saw something shiny on the ground halfway between the bar and his car. He ran over and picked them up. They were his keys. "SAM!" he yelled.

"Come on. I only have a few more farms to check for the nest," Gordon reassured him.

Dean nodded. Vampires fed slowly. They could still get Sam back.

SSS

Sam woke up slowly. He felt sick. He couldn't see anything. He felt strapped down and his hands were behind his back. He struggled against his bonds.

"Shh," he heard.

"What do you want?" Sam asked.

He got no answer.

"What do you want?" This time he shouted.

A hand was put over his mouth. "Shh." The hand moved from his mouth and squeezed down on his throat. He gasped for breath. Just when he thought he couldn't take it any more, the hand was removed. This wasn't normal vamp behavior. Could they be something else?

SSS

"That's the bartender from earlier?" Dean whispered. They had been scoping out their third farmhouse of the night and they saw the bartender coming back from work. "Coincidence?"

"No. I had my eye on him," Gordon said.

They prepared some syringes of dead man's blood. Dean wanted to just charge in, but he knew they had to do this the smart way.

SSS

They were just heading into South Dakota, when Billy Bob called back, "We have to stop for gas. How do you want to keep him quiet?"

"We could chloroform him again," Jason suggested.

"Probably best," Ben said.

"Don't use to much," Billy Bob warned. They didn't want to kill the guy.

"I won't."

Sam smelled the sickly sweet smell again and slipped back into unconsciousness.

SSS

Dean hoped they were right as they barged in. There were only two vamps inside. A man and a woman. Gordon injected the man and Dean the woman. They both crumpled to the ground. That did it. Humans wouldn't react that way to dead man's blood. They tied them up and waited for them to wake. Dean did a quick look around the place, but there was no sign of Sam. If he was dead, those vampires were so dead.

They came slowly to. "Where's my brother?" Dean demanded.

"Who?" the female asked.

"Probably the guy he came into the bar with. These are the guys that killed Conrad, Lenore," the male answered.

"Why did you do that? We weren't hurting anyone?" Lenore cried.

"Not hurting anyone?" Dean asked. "It kind of hurts when you sink your fangs into someone and drink all their blood." Dean resisted adding duh.

"We don't eat people. We drink cattle blood."

Dean remembered what drew them to town in the first place. "Wait, you're telling me you're responsible for the cattle blood? But why?"

"Because we're not murderers. It's not our fault someone turned us," Eli complained.

"If you don't kill people, why did you take my brother?"

"I don't know anything about your brother," Lenore said and looked to Eli.

"Maybe he just took off after that fight you had," Eli suggested

Dean was always telling people to look into his eyes and see if he was lying. He took his own advice. They weren't lying. "So, you really don't kill people," he said in amazement."

"They've been taking a little break. They'll go back to humans soon enough," Gordon predicted.

"Wait. You knew about this?" Dean asked.

"All vampires have to die, Dean. It's our job."

Dean remembered Gordon telling him about how his sister had been killed by a vampire. "The vampire that killed your sister deserved to die, but not these two."

"Killed my sister? He didn't kill my sister. He turned her. I killed her."

"You what?" Dean asked. He heard his father's last words ringing in his ears. You either have to save Sam or kill him. Was Sam going to turn into a demon or something?

"I killed her. I didn't blink. And neither would you."

"Yes, I would," Dean whispered.

Before he could react, Gordon lopped off the head of both the vamps and ran off. He had nothing against Dean. He didn't want a confrontation with him over those vamps. And he would be so busy looking for Sam, he wouldn't come after him.

Dean just looked after Gordon. No point in crying over spilled vampire blood. He had to find Sam. The sun was just coming up. He went back to the bar. There was a security camera in the parking lot. There was nobody there, though. He would have to wait until tonight to look at the tape.

SSS

"Is he still out?"

"No."

"We only have another hour drive, but I've got to get gas again."

"We can put him out again," Jason said.

"No, he has to be awake when we get there," Billy Bob said.

"Get where?" Sam asked.

"Gag him?" Ben asked.

"Might not be enough," Billy Bob pondered.

"I got it," Ben decided. He stuffed the whole gag as far down as it would go into Sam's mouth, placed one hand over that and the other on his throat.

"That should do it," Billy Bob agreed as he pulled into the station. "Jason, go pay, we don't want a card trail."

Jason ran inside to pay and Billy Bob waited impatiently for the tank to fill up. If the animal was able to yell out while at the station it was all over.

Sam tried to make any noise at all, but the cloth was practically going down his throat. He felt like he was choking. Soon, the van was moving again and his chance was gone. He was relieved when the cloth was pulled out, though. He took a deep breath. Ben laughed.

SSS

They got to their farm which was much more like an estate now that they had rebuilt on the five acres that their parents had bought with their lottery winnings. Jason got out and opened the outer gate. Inside there was another gate which he also opened. This was the electric fence. They had an ornamental brick fence all around the property so that nobody could see the electric fence on the inside. It had vines growing all along it so even if someone curious climbed over the other fence, they wouldn't really know it was there.

Billy Bob drove up to the stables. They each had a horse. They left Sam in the van, while they saddled them. When they were ready, Billy Bob went to get Sam. He unstrapped Sam and dragged him forward and threw him to the ground. He landed with a thud.

Billy Bob uncuffed Sam's hands and rolled him over and cuffed the hands in the front. Sam tried to reach up to take off his blindfold, but Ben anticipated him and knocked his hands away.

He took the shackles off his feet and Sam felt himself being lifted to his feet. He had no idea where he was, but it smelled like a farm.

Billy Bob took the rope tied to the back of his saddle and tied the other end to Sam's hands. Ben held them down while Billy Bob mounted. Billy Bob started his horse walking at a good clip and Sam was forced to walk behind or fall. There was now no danger of his removing the blindfold as his hands were forced to far away from his face and he had to concentrate on riding.

Ben and Jason rode behind. They had demolished three of the four farmhouses that were purchased, but they had left one of the others. There were woods between the two houses, but a wide trail that they had cut through it. Every time Sam stumbled, he was whipped from behind. Ten minutes later, they were at their destination.

Ben jumped down off his horse and got the chloroform ready. This time, Sam reached up his hands to try to pull the cloth away. Jason pulled Sam's hands away from Ben's. Soon, he stopped struggling.


	11. Chapter 11

Sam woke up in the dark. There wasn't a sliver of light anywhere. He sat up and heard the clanging of chains. Upon inspection, he found that his hands were attached with a chain approximately a foot long and his feet with a chain about a foot and a half long.

He felt along the floor. It felt like cement or something like that. He thought he was probably in a basement. He explored with his hands a little farther to his right and felt what he thought was a box. He opened it and felt inside. There were several bottles and something that felt soft. He opened one of the bottles and tipped a bit onto his hand. Liquid came out. He brought his hand up and tentatively licked it. It seemed like normal water. He was practically dying of thirst, what with being chloroformed three times in who knows how long without any liquid. Besides, if they had wanted to kill him they could have done it already without poison and they had already knocked him out, so why do it again?

He drank what he thought would be about half the bottle. He probably shouldn't drink too much at once. Then he pulled out one of the soft things. It felt plastic. After a lot of experimental tugging and pulling, he finally discovered it was a loaf of bread. He ate a slice.

He slid his hands along the floor further and was stopped by something solid. He worked his way up and discovered they were bars. He followed them around until he bumped into something. It felt cold. He moved his hand up along it's curved side, until he came to the top. When he went to move his hand over it, there was a hole at the top. He slowly reached his hand inside and it got wet. He found there was more going up towards the back and discovered that it was a toilet. Right next to it was a sink.

He reached up his arms and stood on tip toe. He could just barely feel ceiling. He followed it over and confirmed that the bars reached all the way to the top. So, now he knew that he was in a cage about 3 feet by 3 feet, with a toilet, a sink, and bread and water. And apparently nothing else. He sat down wondering what to do with this information.

SSS

Billy Bob, Jason, and Ben were watching all this on a monitor. They had installed infrared cameras in the room with the cage.

"He didn't find the toothbrush. Think he'll find it later?" Jason asked. The toothbrush and toothpaste were his idea. He didn't want the prisoner coming out with smelly breath.

"Probably," Ben answered.

"I don't know. I think he's done exploring," Billy Bob said.

"He's done for now," Ben agreed. "But, he'll go back over everything again. Remember, we're leaving him in there for a week, and with no windows he'll have no idea how much time is passing. And with no idea why he is in there, or if we've left him in there forever, he'll get desperate and keep trying to find a way out. Until about day five, when he'll totally give up."

"So, what do we do now?" Jason asked.

"Let's go out for beer. We can fast forward through all the nothingness at the end of the week."

SSS

Dean went back to the bar that night and asked to speak to the owner. "I need to see your security footage of the parking lot for last night," he said, flashing a fake badge.

"Got a warrant?"

"No, but if you make me get one, I'll make your life difficult," Dean said.

"Fine." What did he care? He hadn't committed any crimes in the parking lot. He would watch the tape with the cop and if there was anything on it that could get him in trouble, he'd accidentally destroy it getting it out of the player. He figured all he had to do was scratch the disk.

He set the machine up. Dean told him what time he was interested in and they watched. Dean watched as Sam came out of the bar. He walked behind a van and the passenger door opened and someone got out and was running to the back when the back door opened and Sam was pushed back into the passenger. A cloth already going over his mouth. He was shoved inside, all in less than five seconds. He hadn't stood a chance. They were laying in wait for him. Unfortunately, Dean didn't recognize any of them and the plate was totally unreadable. Not even a state.

"OK, do me a favor and give this to the local precinct," Dean said. There wasn't much on there, and the cops would probably give up pretty quick, but he wanted them to at least know about this but he needed to start on finding Sam now.

"Sure," the owner said, but the whole thing felt off. There was no way that guy was a cop and he didn't want to get involved in anything weird. He threw the disk out and stuck another one in the camera.

Meanwhile Dean was back in the bar asking everyone if they had noticed a black van in the parking lot the night before. Some had. Most hadn't. Those who had, hadn't noticed anything special about it.

Dean figured his best bet was to make a list of enemies. Someone had obviously been stalking them. It never occurred to him that it might be random. It just looked too well planned out.

SSS

Three days later

Sam finally found the toothbrush and toothpaste. He gratefully brushed his teeth and started looking to see if he had missed anything else. He hadn't. Not as far as he could tell anyway.

"LET ME OUT!" he yelled. Then he started shaking the bars, trying to break them. He had no idea how long he had been down there, but figured it must have been about a week.

SSS

Four days later

"OK, we're going to let him out in a bit. Let's watch the highlight reel," Billy Bob laughed.

They watched the tape in fast forward motion, putting it on regular speed if he did something interesting. He didn't do much. He slept. He drank. He ate bread. He used the toilet. Every once in a while he tried to find a way out. They laughed when they saw the part with him screaming to be let out. After that, there was mostly despair. He had slept for ten hours straight at one point.

"So, Mr. Pshychology major, what's he feeling?" Jason asked.

"Despondent."

"OK, well, flip on the lights," Billy Bob said. "And remember, when we go get him, nobody speak."

They turned on the lights remotely and headed out to the other house to get him.

Sam was awake when the lights came on. "Aargh," he said and covered his eyes. He wondered if something was going to happen, or he was just going to be in here with lights now.

About ten minutes later he felt himself become accustomed to the light and he heard a door opening. He stood up. The three men from before were coming down the stairs.

One of them opened the door, while the other two pointed rifles at him. The first one grabbed him and propelled him forward to the stairs. He was prodded up them. He was marched out a few yards from the house and pushed down onto the ground. The three men retreated into the woods.

SSS

Dean had followed up every lead he could think of. The truth was, they just didn't have all that many human enemies. He decided to call Bobby and see if he could help.

Bobby checked his phone when it rang. He was surprised to see that it was Dean. He had been so surly after his father had died and wanted to leave the second he was done fixing the Impala. He had told them to keep in touch, and just seen a sad look in Dean's eyes. He wasn't ready to betray his father by turning to his second father. But Bobby had promised to be here when Dean was ready.

"Dean?" he answered.

"Bobby, Sam was kidnapped and I can't figure out who took him."

Figures it was worry about Sam that made him pick up the phone. "Where are you?"

"Wisconsin."

"I'm on my way."

A/N: In case anyone's wondering, I was concerned about "cave blindness" and I looked it up and everything I found said it was a myth. So, Sam's sight should be just fine.


	12. Chapter 12

Sam watched the retreating figures. He wasn't sure why they had just left him here, but if they thought he was just going to sit here and wait for them to come back, they were sadly mistaken.

He stood up slowly and took stock of his situation. He wouldn't be able to remove the shackles from his hands and feet. Instead of being regular handcuffs, they appeared to had been welded on. There were no locks for him to pick. There was also a metal band around his waist with two metal loops on it. He had no idea what that was for.

As he had noted before, his hands could only spread apart about as far as his body. He took a couple of tentative steps. The chain kept him to about half the usual length of his stride. He looked back to where the men had disappeared. There was no sign of them.

He started off in the opposite direction. He walked into the trees on the other side. He had been walking for five minutes, when he put his foot down on a piece of earth that looked no different than the rest of the landscape, but as soon as it felt his weight, a trap door opened. Sam tried to pull his foot back, but he lost his balance and tumbled in.

Immediately the door swung back up and Sam was immediately plunged into darkness again. He heard something that sounded like a motor starting. Before he could even think what that could mean, cold water flooded into the box.

It stopped when there was just enough air left for Sam's head to be above water. He tried to pull the doors open, but there was no handle on the inside and it wouldn't budge. He shivered uncontrollably.

SSS

The Benders hadn't retreated far when they left Sam. They had simply pulled out their Smart Phones and tapped into the security cameras they had all along the grounds.

Billy Bob laughed when Sam fell into the trap. "You were right, Ben. That was the best placement for that trap. He walked straight to it."

"Anybody would. He would instinctively go in the exact opposite direction of us and the trees would lead him to that exact spot. The doors were big enough that he would have had to know it was there to miss it."

"How long do we leave him in there for?" Jason asked.

"I think one hour should do the trick," Billy Bob responded. "That water is forty degrees. He'll die if we leave him in there any longer than that."

"And we have so much more fun in store for him that he wouldn't want to die right now," Jason said.

Ben rolled his eyes. This experiment was great, but it was much more interesting to find out how much a person could take before they totally gave up, than to revel in someone's pain.

SSS

Bobby met Dean at his hotel. "You come up with anything yet?"

"No. I have no idea who could have taken him."

"I have one," Bobby said. "I was thinking of it on the way over."

"Who?" Dean asked.

"While you guys were staying at my place, Sam mentioned that the yellow-eyed demon said he had plans for him. I think the demon might have taken him to start in on those plans."

Dean's face transformed into a look of horror. His father had told him that if he couldn't save Sam, he would have to kill him. If they ever found Sam, would it be just in time for Dean to have to put a bullet in his head.

Bobby didn't know about any of this. He saw Dean's face and said, "Don't worry, Dean. We'll get him back. Sam will be fine."

Dean wasn't so sure, but he just nodded. How did you even find someone who had been taken by a demon? They had been searching for that demon for over twenty years and had only caught one glimpse of him. And that had only been possible because of Sam's psychic powers, which they dint' exactly have access to, now.

SSS

One of Azazel's minions approached him.

"Sir, we have an issue with your favorite psychic child."

"Sam Winchester? What is it?"

"He's been kidnapped."

"So, what else is new? He's been kidnapped several times. Dean always rescues him. It's part of the reason I didn't mind making that deal with John Winchester."

"This time is different. Dean has no idea who has taken his brother and he's a couple of states away. I don't think he'll ever find him."

"Well, who are these kidnappers and what do they want? Are they going to kill Sam?" They needed to avoid that at all costs.

"We've been spying on them and there are no immediate plans. They're trying to break him."

A slow smile came over Azazel's face. "That's perfect. Let's leave him there for now and I have a plan. We need to find someone to help us with it, though."

"Who?"

SSS

An hour later, the Benders opened up the door to the box and lifted Sam out. He was just barely conscious. They dragged him out under the hot July sun. He would thaw out in no time. They left him to do just that.


	13. Chapter 13

Azazel found who he was looking for. He popped up in front of him.

"Who are you?"

"I'm a demon. I have a proposition for you. If you agree, you'll have a reward like you've never imagined."

"I'm listening."

SSS

"He won't do anything for a couple of hours," Ben predicted. "Let's just go back to the house and keep an eye on the monitors."

"Sounds good."

SSS

Bobby and Dean decided to head back to Bobby's place. He had a ton of books where they could research finding a demon. Dean wasn't holding out much hope. But he would never give up on Sam.

SSS

Sam lay shivering in the sun. He curled up in a ball trying to contain as much heat as he could. More than anything he wanted to take off his wet clothes, but that was impossible with the handcuffs and shackles around his feet.

"Hello, Sammy."

Sam looked up. "It's you," he said when he saw the yellow eyes. You're behind this."

"No. I'm just following the situation and decided to take advantage of it. My friend and I have popped in for a second because we need something from you."

"What?" Sam asked.

"Your skin," the man with the demon answered and leaned over and touched Sam.

"What's he doing?" Sam asked.

Then he saw that he wasn't a man after all. He was a shape shifter. Sam watched in disgust as he started pulling his old skin off.

"Not here," Azazel said. He didn't want those rednecks wondering what all the goop was. To Sam, he said,"He's going to take your place. We won't have to worry about Dean finding you and rescuing you if he thinks you're with him."

With that they disappeared. Sam continued staring at the spot they had just vacated. Surely Dean would be able to tell the difference between him and a shape shifter. Wouldn't he?

SSS

"Hey, something's up with the cameras," Jason said.

The others looked up from their beers and noticed that the camera that was pointed to where their prisoner was laying in the sun was just showing snow.

"Do you think he figured out a way to escape?" Billy Bob asked.

"Impossible," Ben said, but let's go check it out.

SSS

"So, what's the plan?" new Sam asked.

"Dean and his friend, Bobby Singer, are driving back from Wisconsin to South Dakota. You and these two demons are going to go wait for them and intercept them. You'll intercept them and pretend to escape from them. Then you'll keep riding with Dean until it's time."

"Time for what?"

"None of your business," Azazel assured him.

SSS

"He's still laying there," Jason pointed out.

"He should start to get up soon," Ben said, checking his watch. The affects of the cold water should start to be wearing off and even his clothes would be almost dry from the hot sun.

As if to prove Ben right, Sam slowly began to stand up. His three tormentors were hidden in the woods and he couldn't see them. He walked off in the same direction he had last time, this time carefully avoiding the trap.

The Benders stayed where they were watching his progress on their phones.

Sam soon came to a fence. There was yellow police tape about a couple of feet in front of the fence for as far as he could see. As if that was going to stop him.

He leaped over the tape and immediately felt shocks in his wrists, ankles and waist from where the metal bands were tight against his skin. The pain was so intense, he lost consciousness before he could leap back out on the other side.

The Benders, who had seen where he was heading and knew what was going to happen, arrived on the scene a few minutes later. They crossed the tape and pulled Sam back to the other side. Even though he was out, he had still been moaning. The moaning ceased once he was safely on the other side of the tape.

They crept away again, waiting once more for their fun to begin.

SSS

Dean and Bobby stopped for gas about a hundred miles away from Bobby's place. Dean was anxious to get there. Bobby really did have a lot of books. Maybe the fact that their father hadn't been able to find the demon could all be blamed on the fact that he and Bobby had had a falling out a few years ago.

Dean was pumping the gas while Bobby had gone in to use the bathroom.

"Dean!" he heard and turned towards the voice to see Sam running towards him. It looked like he had just jumped out of a car across the street. Two men were close behind him. Dean pulled out his gun and started towards his brother and pursuers when a shot rang out. Sam fell to the ground.

New Sam couldn't believe what was happening. He felt the silver piercing his hear and realized the demon had double-crossed him. He should have known better than to trust a demon.

The two demons leapt back in the car and sped off. That stupid shifter had actually believed that the boss would trust him with the whole plan. This was obviously the better way to go. Dean would not look for Sam if he was dead. No need to rely on a shifter to try and fool him. Like Dean Winchester wouldn't know his own brother.

"Sammy!" Dean yelled and raced up to the body. He checked for a pulse. There was none. He looked down into Sam's open brown eyes.

Bobby rushed out when he heard the gunshot. He saw Dean in the middle of the road cradling his brother's body. "Call 911," he yelled, not knowing whether or not it was too late. He rushed the rest of the way to the two brothers.

"Dean?"

Dean just shook his head.

"I'm sorry, son." He didn't know how Dean would go on without Sam. Dean had been protecting Sam all his life and Bobby knew that Dean would see this as the ultimate failure.


	14. Chapter 14

The police had to pull Dean off of Sam. Bobby had just stood there watching as Dean cradled his brother's body and sobbed. He hadn't known what to do. He had never seen Dean so broken and alone.

"No. I'm not leaving my brother!" Dean was yelling as it took three police officers to remove him.

One of the police officers understood exactly how he felt. His younger brother had been killed in a bank robbery right in front of him. It was why he had become a cop in the first place. "Let us take him now. You've done all you could."

All he could. That hadn't been enough. Sam had died on his watch. He had let Sam get taken from that bar and then not even helped him when he had apparently managed to escape.

"Come on, Dean," Bobby urged, leading him away. He didn't want the police to get a chance to ask too many questions.

"Don't go anywhere," one of the cops said.

"Just going to take him to the bathroom so he can collect himself," Bobby lied.

It took a little doing, but Bobby managed to sneak Dean off. Dean was fighting him for a little while, but then, broken as he was, he just gave up. It made Bobby's job easier, but it also made him sad and worried.

SSS

When Sam woke up, it was early evening. He looked around. He had been moved to the other side of the tape, but he was alone. He wondered what their point was. He shrugged his shoulders, got up, and started walking around the perimeter of the property following the police tape.

Every few yards, he extended his wrists over the tape and received an electrical shock. There was no way out, he realized.

Then he saw the house. He decided to make his way to it and see if there were any weapons or anything else he could use.

Billy Bob and the rest were watching his movements. They had gone to retrieve their horses, and Billy Bob signaled to the others. They rode out and fanned out in a circle around Sam.

Sam saw them and tried to start running. He fell to the ground when his chains brought him up short. He scrambled back to his feet and stumbled off as best as he could.

Billy Bob threw out his lasso and expertly ensnared Sam. Sam fell to the ground once again and found himself dragged several yards. He was back in the original clearing where he had begun the day.

Billy Bob jumped down from his horse and removed the rope from Sam. The three riders rode off again, once more leaving Sam where he was.

Sam was in pain. He just lay there. He decided there was no point in moving. Every time he tried to escape he was met with pain. Plus, he had found out it was pointless anyway. There was no way out.

"Did it work?" Jason whispered as they watched.

"I think so," Ben replied, watching Sam's sagging body language. "He knows there's no way out and he's given up. I believe step one is complete."

They left Sam out there for the night and went to bed secure in the knowledge that Sam wouldn't try to leave again and even if he did, it wouldn't matter.

SSS

Bobby finally pulled into his house. "Dean," he said. The kid had been sitting and staring straight ahead, the rest of the way back. He still gave no response.

"Dean, do you think this is what Sam would want?"

"No. Sam was all about revenge," Dean remembered it was all Sam could talk about after Jess had died, and again after their father had died. "Problem is, I have no idea who did this to Sam. Demons wouldn't have bothered shooting him and he wouldn't have been able to escape from demons even for a second anyway. So, I think that little theory of yours was wrong."

Bobby tried to ignore the bitter tone. "Yeah. I caught the license plate on that car, though. Want to check it out?" He wasn't sure if this revenge plan was the way to go, but right now Dean needed to have a purpose. It was the only way he would be able to keep going.

Dean nodded. Killing Sam's killers was all he could do for him right now.

SSS

Eventually Sam had fallen asleep. He woke when he felt a shadow fall on him.

"Rise and shine," Billy Bob said.

Sam sat up. "What do you want with me?" he asked. This was the first time he had heard any of them speak since they had thrown him in that basement, and it was the first time they had spoken directly to him at all.

"We've been teaching you two lessons. Do you know what they are?" Ben asked.

Lessons? Sam just shook his head no.

"For a week, you were in a cell, only have bread and water. As a bonus you had no light. What does that sound like to you?"

"Jail," Sam guessed.

"Right. And who do you find in jails?" Ben asked again. It was important that Sam say this on his own.

"Prisoners?"

"Exactly. You are our prisoner."

Sam rolled his eyes. The chains alone could have taught him that. Jason leaned down and punched him in the face. "Don't be disrespectful."

Ben ignored the interruption and went on. "Then yesterday, you tried to leave several times, only to find out the place has booby traps and a perimeter you can't pass through. What does that teach you?"

Sam was silent. Jason punched him again. "Answer him!"

Billy Bob just watched. His pa had always said that the best part of a hunt was watching the light go out of their eyes. This was even better. The light would slowly die day after day. They would hold complete power over him. It would be more than just momentary satisfaction. But his family had never wanted to do this. They couldn't see the big picture.

"I can't escape," Sam whispered.

"That's right," Ben said, patting him on the head. "You're our prisoner and you can't escape. You'll be here forever." He tossed Sam an apple.

"Hurry up and eat that. We have three more lessons to get through today.

Sam greedily ate the apple while worrying about that day's lessons.

When Sam was done, Ben said, "We'll tell you the lessons in advance. Actually, there's one big lesson and the three lessons just reinforce that."

"The big lesson is that you're our slave," Billy Bob said. "And there are a couple of things we have to do before we teach you your lessons."

"First is to tell you the rules," Jason said. He wasn't into the psychological aspects of this as Ben was. He just wanted to be in charge. He wanted to boss someone around the way his parents did with him. He had practically begged the others to let him be the one to inform their slave of the rules. They had agreed.

"There are only three rules to being a slave. The first is that you don't speak. You will get three warnings. After that, if you speak, we will cut your tongue out."

Sam believed him. These guys were nuts.

"The second rule is, you don't ever look us in the eye. You look down in our presence. We are your superiors."

Sam defiantly continued to look right at him. Jason walked over to his horse, pulled a whip off the saddle and hit Sam with it.

Sam screamed in pain. In theory, you know that being whipped hurts, but you don't realize how much until it happens. He quickly looked down.

"The third rule is you do what we tell you to do, when we tell you to do it."

"Get up," Ben said.

Sam stood up slowly. "Walk over to those trees," Ben pointed.

Sam walked over there. He hated doing what he was told, but there were three of them with guns, and apparently whips, and who knew what else, and he had nothing and was chained and couldn't even run away if he did manage to overpower them. His situation truly did look hopeless.

When Sam got to the trees that Ben had pointed two, he noticed two metal poles, not far from each other. Billy Bob walked up to him and pulled out two pairs of handcuffs. He attached one end of each through the loop on Sam's metal band around his waist and the other was locked into place underneath the shackle on his wrists.

There was a metal band attached to the poles that was fastened around his neck and two more at the bottom that were joined with the shackles around his feet.

"The next thing we're going to do, is make you appear more slavelike," Billy Bob explained as he pulled out a knife.

Sam tried to back away from the shiny blade, but immediately felt choked by the neck brace.

"Slaves don't wear shirts," he explained and began cutting Sam's shirt off of him. He nicked him a couple of times and Sam was pretty sure it was on purpose.

Once the shirt was off, he bent down and cut Sam's jeans off mid-thigh. Sam was now wearing cut-off shorts and no shirt.

Jason pulled out scissors and started cutting Sam's hair. Sam wanted to protest, but remembered the warning about getting his tongue cut out.

"Slaves are bald," Jason said. He finished cutting and moved on to a razor.

Sam had noticed one of them had left. Just as the last of his hair fell to the ground, he saw him returning with something glowing red.

"Slaves have brands," Ben said.

"No," Sam yelled, as he saw the glowing "B" coming closer towards him.

"That's warning number one," Billy Bob taunted. He would enjoy cutting his tongue out. And he knew he eventually would be able to. Nobody could go for years without speaking.

Sam screamed as the "B" was emblazoned on his chest.

"Now you're ours forever," Billy Bob said.

"And now we'll teach you your final lessons," Ben promised.

A/N: Sorry for those of you who think this is dragging on too long, but the Benders had a very specific plan and I didn't want to rush it. After the three lessons next chapter, we should be able to race to the finish a bit quicker.


	15. Chapter 15

"Sorry, Dean. That car was reported stolen a couple of hours before…," Bobby trailed off, not wanting to finish the thought.

"That's OK," Dean said. He had a better idea than getting revenge anyway. "I need to be alone." He got up and headed towards the door.

"Dean," Bobby said, wanting to stop him. He had that 'I'm going to do something stupid' look that was unique to the Winchester family.

Dean ignored him and left. He had some things to get and then he had to do what he had to do.

SSS

"Lesson number one. We can hurt you," Billy Bob said.

Jason's whip made another appearance and came lashing onto Sam's back. He screamed. It landed on his back three more times and across his torso twice. Then Jason retreated. Sam hoped that was the end of the lesson.

He was disappointed in that hope when Billy Bob took the cigarette he had been smoking out of his mouth and started applying the burning butt all over Sam's body. He started with his legs and moved up to the arms and then the torso, next to the fresh whip marks.

When he was done, it was Ben's turn. He had decided not to use any tools. He would do things the old-fashioned way. He punched Sam . A couple of times in the face, a few times in the ribs. Then, just for the fun of it, he punched him where no man ever wants to be punched.

Sam was bleeding from the mouth from the punches, bleeding from some of the whippings, he felt like he may have a cracked rib or two and the burns were just plain uncomfortable.

Billy Bob walked up to him. "Do you acknowledge that we have the power to give you pain?"

Sam didn't want to acknowledge that they had the power to do anything. He remained completely still.

"I'll ask you again. If you don't think we've done a good job teaching you that, we'll have to get a bit more creative. Do you acknowledge that we have the power to give you pain?"

Sam knew his father would be ashamed of him if he were alive to see this moment, but he nodded his head. He couldn't handle anything else.

"Great. Now on to lesson number two. We decide whether or not you live or die."

Sam didn't like the sound of this. Billy Bob was unhitching Sam from the poles. He left his wrists attached to the waistband, though.

They walked him back towards the main house. There was a swimming pool right behind it. As soon as they reached the pool, Billy Bob pushed Sam in.

Sam saw what was happening and took a deep breath before he was plunged under water. He tried to get back up, but he had no use of his arms and very limited use of his legs. And the chains were heavy. He felt his lungs emptying of air. He looked up and saw the three men laughing.

"How long should we leave him down there?" Jason asked.

"I'll know when the time is right," Billy Bob said, loving the look of fear in the slave's eyes. He loved having someone completely at his mercy. That was the problem with hunting. It was over all too soon. But this was a trip that could last quite a while. They would probably just get a new slave every year. That would be just enough time to get sick of the first one and be ready to break a new one. Maybe they could get a woman next time. They could even use her to breed. Billy Bob wanted kids, but he didn't want a wife, or someone else messing up their raising.

He came out of his thoughts to see the slave finally giving up the struggle. He jumped in and lifted him out to the others who pulled him up on the deck.

"You looked directly at us when you were in that pool. We'll punish you for that tonight," Ben said. He wanted to get on with these last two lessons before returning to the first one again.

Sam quickly averted his eyes.

"My turn," Jason said. Sam was led back through the woods into a small clearing. In the middle was a deep hole. "Get in," Jason said, as he led Sam to the edge.

Sam looked down and saw a coffin in the hole. He backed into Jason, but was roughly shoved into the hole. Jason jumped in and made sure Sam got in the coffin. He slammed the lid down and jumped out of the hole. The cousins started filling the hole in with dirt.

"We don't have to completely fill the hole. He won't know the difference," Ben pointed out.

"How much?" Billy Bob asked.

Jason considered. "Three inches over the top of the coffin and will cut off the flow of air."

Sam heard the dirt hitting the top of his coffin. He kicked at the lid with his feet, but it wouldn't budge. He didn't see the camera that they had placed inside the lid so that they could watch him. He didn't see anything. It was pitch black in there. He felt like he couldn't breathe. He was being buried alive. He tried to get his hands to lift away from his waist, but they were still chained.

When they had finished filling in the dirt, they turned on their phones to watch the show. "Look at him struggle," Jason laughed.

When Sam finally gave up and looked resigned to dying, they dug him up.

Ben led him to a large table. They strapped him to it, and lit a fire underneath it. Sam could feel the heat.

"I want me some barbecue slave," Billy Bob laughed.

Sam could feel the sweat pouring down his face. His clothes dried from the pool in mere moments.

"Man, he passed out," Billy Bob complained. The fun was to watch his panic.

"Let's get him down. When he wakes up we'll start the final lesson."


	16. Chapter 16

Dean buried the box at the crossroads. He knew about demon deals. Once he had overheard his father talking to one of his hunter friends about bringing mom back. The hunter had talked him out of it, saying that she wouldn't want him to condemn his soul to Hell for eternity bringing her back temporarily.

But, he knew that his dad had done this for him while he was in the hospital. He just knew it. And it was his job to protect Sam.

"You called?"

Dean spun around and saw a woman.

"Yeah," he answered, nervously. He was used to fighting demons, not having conversations.

"Well?" she asked, impatiently.

"I want you to bring my brother, Sam, back from the dead."

The demon knew two things. She couldn't bring Sam back from the dead since he was still alive. And, she couldn't let Dean know that or Azazel would torture her in ways she couldn't even imagine.

"Not going to happen."

Dean's face fell. He had never heard of a crossroads demon refusing a deal. They wanted all the souls they could get. "Why not?"

She thought quickly. Had to be a believable answer. "Because your brother's already in Hell, and let's face it, that's where you'll end up eventually anyway. We can wait." With that, she disappeared. It was best not to stick around when you gave Dean Winchester bad news about Sam.

Dean barely noticed the demon's departing. Sammy was in Hell? He didn't know anybody better. Was he being tortured right this minute?

SSS

Sam slowly began to wake up. He remembered the heat and the smoke. It had all brought memories of Jess rushing to the surface. That had been the real reason he passed out. Physically, it hadn't been any worse than the rest of the stuff he had been put through.

"Time for your final lesson," Billy Bob said.

"We are in total control of you," Ben elaborated.

Sam's wrists had been unlocked from his waist, but they were still chained to each other, of course. He couldn't see anything because he had been blindfolded.

Jason and Ben each grabbed one arm and lifted him to a standing position. "You don't do anything we don't make you do," Jason whispered in his ear.

Billy Bob walked up behind him and grabbed him around the neck. He put his other arm around his waist. Sam couldn't move at all unless his three tormentors moved him. In this awkward manner, they made their way slowly back to the stables.

Jason and Ben kept hold of Sam's arms as Billy Bob let go of him so that he could put a shovel in his hands. As the cousins moved his arms for him, Sam cleaned out one of the stables. Then they removed his blindfold and indicated that he do the other two. All three pointed rifles at him the entire time. Jason also held his whip and when Sam wasn't fast enough, Jason was more than happy to prod him along.

When he was done, they replaced the blindfold, and walked him as before to the house. He was led through the tasks of washing dishes, dusting, vacuuming, etc.

Finally, Billy Bob removed his blindfold one last time. "Do you acknowledge that you are our prisoner?"

Sam nodded while looking down at the floor.

"Do you acknowledge that there is no escape?"

Sam remembered the shocks he had received anywhere near the edge of the property. He had no choice but to nod.

"Do you acknowledge that we can hurt you?"

Sam nodded again. There was no doubt about that. His cuts and burns still hurt.

"Do you acknowledge that we have power of life and death over you?"

Sam nodded. He didn't have any rebellion left in him.

"Acknowledging all this, do you agree to do what we tell you to do and be a model slave?"

Before Sam could answer, he heard and saw Jason crack the whip right in front of him. He nodded. He didn't have a choice really. He knew that if he didn't nod, he would be put through another day like today.

"Ben, show him to his quarters. And don't forget that he looked directly at us earlier and needs to be punished."

Sam couldn't believe that the day wasn't punishment enough. He wondered what his punishment would be.

Ben led him into another room. He pushed an unseen button on the wall and a panel opened up. "As you can see, if anyone were to come looking for you, they would find it very hard to find you."

Sam briefly thought of Dean. He had almost forgotten the demon and shapeshifter, but it all came rushing back. Nobody was looking for him.

Ben propelled him to the back of the room and pushed yet another button. An elevator opened. Sam was shoved inside and they went down.

"This room is totally soundproof," Ben explained, when the elevator door opened into a basement. "And, as you can see, there is no call button for the elevator down here. You can't come back up unless one of us comes for you."

Sam was then led over to a cage with a metal table standing in the middle of it. Sam was instructed to lay down on the metal. Ben then pulled his hands over his head and attached them to a pole directly behind the table. His feet were then chained to the bottom.

"If you behave, this would be how you would sleep. However, due to your insubordination today, you get a little something extra." Ben reached under the table and brought out a spool of barbed wire.

Sam's eyes widened. Ben wrapped it around Sam and the table from his shoulders down to his waist. He pulled it fairly tight and Sam whimpered with each revolution.

"It could be worse. If Jason were down here, he would have done your neck and legs. I don't want to risk you garroting yourself, though. And I just don't feel like bothering with going lower. I'm going to let you in on a little secret, Slave. I went to college and majored in psychology. I'm going to enjoy studying you." With that he got up and clanged the door of the cage shut and locked it.

"Guess we don't need to worry about you escaping during the night do we?" he laughed and left in the elevator.

Sam waited for the lights to turn out, but they remained on. He closed his eyes and was asleep in moments. It had been a rough few days.

SSS

Dean returned to Bobby's distraught. "What did you do, boy?" Bobby asked.

"I tried to sell my soul to bring Sam back," Dean confessed.

"You what?" Bobby exploded. "Of all the stupid…,"

"They refused the deal, Bobby."

"I've never heard of that happening before. They say why?" Bobby was truly confused, and with all his years of hunting under his belt, it took quite a bit for the supernatural to confuse him.

"They said Sam's already in Hell, and I will be, too, eventually."

"Aw, Dean." Bobby was having a hard enough time with the image of Sam being tormented for eternity. He could only imagine what it was doing to Dean.

"We have to get that yellow-eyed demon, Bobby," Dean said.

"Where did that come from?"

"it's what Sam wanted. It's all we can do."

"OK," Bobby agreed. Anything to get Dean's mind off of Sam.


	17. Chapter 17

Six months later

Sam was laying on his table bed with barbed wire cutting into his skin. He had been here for a long time, but had no way of telling the passage of time down there. Plus, he had been unconscious when he had been brought down. He had been punished the worst that he had been the entire time he had been here.

When he had first arrived, he had disobeyed a few times, and he had been punished. Sometimes it had been just a whipping, sometimes they had thrown him in the pool, only to drag him out at the last second. Sometimes they had gotten truly creative. After about two weeks, he hadn't done anything wrong again. Not on purpose anyway.

For the first month, at least one of them stood over him with a rifle. He had accidentally flung horse manure on Jason as he had been cleaning out one of the horse stables. Jason had made him eat it.

One time Billy Bob had asked him a question. Sam hadn't answered as he knew he wasn't allowed to speak. Billy Bob burned him with cigarettes and demanded an answer. Sam figured maybe the crazy guy had changed his mind, so he answered him. He was immediately given his second warning for speaking.

Ben had come out then and told Billy Bob that was cheating and to not do it again. However, he had let Sam know that the second warning stood. Sam had decided right then and there, that the one thing he could do was thwart Billy Bob's desire to cut out his tongue. He wouldn't speak again, no matter what.

But, what brought him to his present predicament began about a month ago. Ben carried in an unconscious girl in a wedding dress. He had carried her over the threshold like they had just been married.

"What's going on?" Jason asked.

"I snagged a bride on the way to her wedding. She's my wife now," Ben declared.

"Are you nuts? You're going to bring the law down on us. We have to plan to snag someone."

Sam was in the kitchen doing the dishes. He felt bad for the girl, but there wasn't anything he could do for her.

The girl started to come around. She moaned. When she looked up and saw Ben, she said, "What's going on?"

"We're going to get married, sweetheart."

"What? No! Where's David?"

"Shh!" Ben soothed. "Jason, you be my best man, and Billy Bob, you marry us."

"Well, I guess what's done is done," Billy Bob groused. "What's your name?"

"Her name is Melody," Ben said.

"No, it's not! Let me go!"

Ben was still holding her in his arms, and the girl was hitting at him, trying to get loose. She screamed. "Help me!"

"That reminds me. I have a wedding gift for you. We'll be right back down," and he carried her upstairs. "Slave, come with us. I may need some help."

Sam didn't want anything to do with this, but he had no choice. He put the dish towel down and followed them up the stairs.

Ben carried Melody into his parents' old bedroom and threw Melody down on the bed. She looked up at Sam and saw his chains and brand. She started screaming all over again. These people were nuts. She got up and ran towards the door.

"Stop her," Ben said.

Sam reacted without even thinking. He placed himself between her and the door. He reminded himself that it didn't really matter. If she had got by him, Billy Bob and Jason would have snagged her before she got out the door. He still felt like a jerk.

Ben smiled. They really had broken him. "Good boy," he said as he walked to the door and patted Sam on the head. They shaved his head every week, so he was still bald.

"Lay down, Melody."

"My name's not Melody. It's Amber." Could this just be a case of mistaken identity. Maybe he would just let her go.

But, he grabbed her hair and pulled her head back. "Your name is whatever I say it is? Do you understand?" He didn't wait for an answer, but flung her back on the bed, stomach down. He pulled her hands behind her and tied them. "I hope you appreciate these. These are my mother's silk scarves."

He moved down and tied her feet together, too.

"You're hurting me," she complained as he pulled both scarves tight.

He took the the third scarf and shoved it in her mouth and tied it behind her head. "Are you ready to get married?"

She shook her head violently. Ben just laughed. She would be the perfect wife. "Back to work, Slave."

Sam went back down to the kitchen to finish the dishes and Ben went downstairs for the wedding. Billy Bob performed the ceremony as Ben held Melody in his arms and forced her to nod her head at all the right places.

"We'll have steak for dinner tonight, Slave!" he yelled.

Sam pulled the meat out of the freezer and went to do the laundry.

Later, Sam set four places at the table and stood in the corner to serve as he did every night.

"Why is there an extra place set?" Ben asked.

Sam shook. He was going to get punished. He had set an extra place for the girl, but apparently that had been wrong. He had carried her down to dinner. "You'll just eat off of my plate, sweetie."

He didn't seem disposed to punish Sam for his mistake and he inwardly sighed in relief. Ben removed Melody's gag and fed her. "Please let me go," she whimpered.

Sam had no idea what they had done in the hours between the wedding and supper. He knew they had gone outside.

"What did you two do all day?" Billy Bob asked.

"I showed her the grounds," Ben answered. "I hope she's not too tired to consummate our marriage, tonight."

"Help me, please," she begged Jason. He hadn't said much since she had arrived. She thought maybe he was her best hope.

He laughed, though. "You got a feisty one, brother."

She started crying. She knew her situation was hopeless. Ben slapped her. "Stop crying. I'll be a good husband to you. You'll see."

Of course, the slap just made her cry all the harder.

Ben got up and carried her towards the stairs. "Slave, I'll require your assistance."

Sam followed him up the stairs. Ben lay Melody on the bed and brought over a couple more silk scarves and a teddy. "Slave, I want her to dress herself in that, and then I want you to tie her limbs to the bedpost. If she's not ready in ten minutes, you'll both be severely punished." With that he left the room. They both her the turn of a key.

Sam untied her hands and feet.

"Please, help me."

Sam wanted to help her. Or at least tell her that he couldn't, but he didn't dare speak. Someone might be listening. So, he just motioned to the garment.

She remembered what the man had said about them both being punished. She saw the scars all over this man. Whip marks on his back. Burn marks on his torso. What looked like cuts from knives all over his legs and arms. She knew she couldn't get away. They were locked in here. If she didn't put the teddy on, it would be forced on her and she would be beaten. She put it on and lay on the bed, so the slave could tie her.

A couple of minutes later, the door opened. "You may go."

Sam left to do his regular night time routine.

Everything had been the same until a couple of days ago. Ben had tired of Melody. "She doesn't love me," he complained to Jason.

Sam fought not to roll his eyes. Of course she didn't love him. He kept her tied up and gagged all day and carried her everywhere. He could only imagine that she was raped every night. "Let's bury her. Maybe she'll love me when we dig her up."

Sam remembered the terror he had felt when they had buried him. They had actually done it two more times as punishment. "Come on, Slave. You can do the burying this time."

Sam went with them. It was terrifying, but it was temporary and there was no physical pain at least.

Melody tried to escape as she saw the coffin. She wriggled in Ben's arms. "Slave, go get the shovels from the barn."

When Sam had gone out of sight, Ben pulled the chloroform out. He placed the soaked cloth over Melody's nose and mouth until she stopped struggling. "This will make it easier."

"But isn't the point for her to panic?" Billy Bob asked.

"Not this time. We won't dig her back up. Shh," he said when Sam returned. He hadn't wanted Sam to know before she was buried.

After Sam had buried the coffin, he stood waiting. Eventually they would tell him to dig her back up and he wanted to do it as quickly as possible.

"Let's go," Ben said. "I'm sick of her, but this way I don't have to watch her die."

Sam heard him, but couldn't believe him. He wouldn't actually let her die, would he? He stepped forward and pushed the shovel into the ground.

Jason grabbed him back and flung him to the ground. "No! She's dying today."

Sam tried to fight him. Billy Bob joined him. "You two have fun. I think I'm going to go in town for a beer. My wife is dying. It's tragic," Ben said.

"Now that he's gone, let's watch. There's that camera in the coffin." Jason turned on his phone. Melody was jus t coming to. She saw the coffin lid above her and her eyes widened. If her hands hadn't been tied she would have tried to scratch her way out. If she hadn't been gagged, she would have been screaming. As it was, it was pretty boring. They saw fear in her eyes, and then eventually, they just closed. The most entertaining part had been keeping their slave from saving her. When her eyes had been closed for ten minutes, they let him go.

Sam ran as best he could with the restrictive chains and jumped in the pool. He had killed that girl. They had broken him to the point that he would do anything for them and he couldn't live with that. They fished him out, though. "I told you, boy. I decide when you live and when you die."

They had then beaten him with whips, burned him with cigarettes, cut him with knives. Thrown him in the bathtub full of ice cubes until he was blue. He couldn't even remember everything else they had done to him. He had passed out at some point and woke up down here. That had been what seemed like a day ago. He was thirsty. He could only hope they let him die down here.

Just as he was thinking that, the elevator door opened and Ben walked out. He unlocked the cage and sat by Sam. "Did you enjoy the last month, Sammy? Because I sure did." Ben closed his eyes and when he opened them, they were yellow. "It's time."


	18. Chapter 18

"I've been in Ben since he brought in Melody. I had you bury her, kill her. How did that make you feel?"

Sam didn't say anything. It didn't matter if one or all of them were possessed. He still wasn't going to give them the satisfaction of cutting out his tongue.

"You don't have to speak, Sammy. Remember those visions you used to have. The ones that you even had here but couldn't do anything about?" the demon chuckled knowing how the first time Sam had had a vision while here was the only time he really tried to escape.

"Do you know how you have them?"

Sam shook his head. He wanted to know, but he was afraid that he didn't want to know.

"The night I killed your mother, I dripped demon blood in your mouth. It gave you psychic powers. And you can communicate with demons with your mind."

Like I would want to, Sam thought.

"Doesn't matter if you want to or not. Now that I've killed the rest of my psychic connection to demons is all the stronger."

What do you want?

"Very good, Sammy," the demon said and patted Sam's cheek. "I'm not going to tell you quite yet. All in good time. The one thing I will tell you now is that I'm your master now. I'm also promoting you to a foreman."

The demon removed the barbed wire and helped Sam up. Sam groaned with the pain.

"Never show weakness," the demon said. He tore apart the handcuffs and foot manacles, freeing Sam's limbs and giving him full range of motion.

They went up in the elevator. There were four men that Sam recognized as demons by their black eyes. Jason and Billy Bob were laying on the floor next to the table unconscious.

"I drugged their food. They should wake up soon. You can have a little payback."

What?

"First let me introduce you to your underslaves," Azazel said, indicating the four demons. "You can call them Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Delta. With the ascension of the last psychic kid, all of the black-eyed demons have lost their free will. They will obey you unless you contradict a higher demons order."

So?

"When your previous masters awake, you will command these demons to do to them everything they did to you. If you don't, I'll take it out on you."

Why don't you just do it?

Azazel touched Sam's arm and caused it to glow red with heat. It was hotter than the brand or the cigarette butts he had been subjected to. He screamed out and sank to his knees.

"Never question one of my orders. Understand?"

Sam nodded.

Billy Bob and Jason started moaning.

"Ben? What's going on? Who are these people? And why did you unchain the slave."

"Things are going to be different around here from now on," Azazel said. "From now on, you two, and these four gentlemen are slaves, also. Sam, here, will be your foreman."

Jason laughed. Ben couldn't stand up against six of them. Slave, or Sam apparently, might not help them, but those four men were not just going to sit back and be slaves.

"Sam?" Azazel prompted.

Handcuff them, Sam thought.

The demons approached Jason and Billy Bob. They tried to get to their feet. The demons shot out their hands and threw them back to the floor while they were still several feet away.

"What the hell?" Billy Bob asked.

Tell them your demons, Sam thought. He wanted them scared. He hated himself for it, but he wanted to hurt those two so bad it wasn't even funny.

Azazel laughed. It was all starting to come together.

"We're demons," one of them said.

"There's no such thing," Jason said.

The demon didn't say anything else. He hadn't been instructed to. They got the handcuffs on them.

Now the manacles, Sam thought.

They were put on.

Are there any more of these to weld to them? Sam asked Azazel indicating the metal bands on the various parts of his body that kept him from leaving.

"No. Sorry," he said, regretfully.

Whip them, Sam thought.

He couldn't help smiling as he heard them scream. How many times had they caused him to scream over the last six months.

"You look like you have things well in hand," Azazel said. "I have some more preparations to make. Your demon slaves have been instructed not to let you escape, so anything that might be construed as an escape attempt will still result in immediate punishment, even if you don't seem to have any direct supervision. I'll be back in two weeks. I expect those two to be completely broken in that time."

Sam nodded. He already was completely broken. He no longer knew how to disobey. For a moment, he wondered how his father would think of him now. Would he prefer him this way?

SSS

Two weeks later, Azazel came back. Billy Bob and Jason were scrubbing the floor. The demons were standing over them, two holding shotguns, two holding whips. Sam was watching TV.

"Sam, go outside while I talk to the other slaves."

Sam stood up and left.

"Are they broken?"

"Yes, Master. The Chosen One is quite the hard taskmaster. They have been whipped, cut, burned, forced to the most menial tasks. They wouldn't obey the no talking rule and he had their tongues cut out."

Azazel laughed once again. "I think he's ready. And it's good, because it's just in time."

SSS

"Bobby, we've been chasing our tails for months. We haven't been able to find any leads on the demon."

"I just got a call from a hunter friend. There's a storm of demon signs in southeast Wyoming. It's like they're circling an area trying to get in and they can't."

"Why?"

"Well, I got a map of the area and there is a huge cemetery that is surrounded with train tracks laid out in the shape of a devil's trap. The railroad was built by Samuel Colt."

"The demon killing, gun making Samuel Colt?"

"Yep," Bobby concurred.

"Why?"

"No idea, but the best way to find out is probably to go to the center of it."

"Let's go," Dean said and grabbed his jacket.

Bobby wondered if he should have even brought this up. Dean hadn't been the same since Sam had died. He had taken reckless chances and didn't seem to care if he lived or died. It seemed the only reason he had to live was revenge against the demon and that was no life.

But, he had already told him and he couldn't take it back. It was either go with him or let him go alone and that definitely wasn't an option.


	19. Chapter 19

Bobby and Dean drove over the train tracks into the cemetery. They had no idea what they were looking for, but they were going to go straight to the center and see what was there. A few minutes later they pulled over. "Let's get out and see what we can see," Bobby said.

"OK, you go that way and I'll go this way," Dean replied.

"No. We stick together." Bobby had no idea what was here, but the demons were interested whatever it was, it was big.

"Bobby, the demons can't get in because of the devil's trap," Dean protested.

"We stick together," Bobby said more firmly.

Dean sighed and Bobby followed him. "There's a devil's trap on the door of this mausoleum," Dean noted.

"I wonder what that means."

"Should we try to open it?" Dean asked.

"Idgit," Bobby responded. Who the hell would open something that was being locked away from demons?

SSS

"We're all going to go on a little trip. But, first I need to talk to Sammy," Azazel said and led Sam away from the others.

"Who is your master?" Azazel asked.

You are, Sam thought.

"Do you remember when Billy Bob and the others were your masters?"

Sam nodded his head.

"Who was capable of giving you more pain, me or them?"

Sam thought over the last couple of weeks since Yellow Eyes had come back. He had been taken off supervisory duty and been tortured like never before. He wasn't sure why he wasn't dead. He figured it must have something to do with demons being able to control the exact amount of pain/damage ratio.

You were, he thought.

The demon smiled at him. Sam recoiled, wondering if he was going to get another demonstration.

"No, Sammy, I'm not going to hurt you again as long as you do my bidding. That's a promise. Will you do exactly as I bid?"

Sam hated himself for it, but he nodded.

"Once someone is a slave he is always a slave. If his first master dies, or he is sold or stolen, the next master is always more terrible. Do you believe that?"

Sam nodded.

The demon smiled again, as he realized that Sam was hoping and praying that he wouldn't have to change masters again. That was exactly what he wanted and he knew how sincere the wish was. "OK, time to go?"

The demons transported themselves, Sam, Billy Bob and Jason to a spot right next to some railroad tracks.

"You three are going to go inside and walk fifty miles that way. Sammy, when you get there, you'll need this gun to open a crypt."

Sam looked down at the gun the demon had placed in his hands. He knew this gun. It seemed like a lifetime ago, but this was the gun his dad had died over. This was the only gun that could kill the demon standing before him. The demon they had spent their whole life hunting. But, if he killed this demon, his next master would be much worse. He turned around and walked into the cemetery. He heard Billy Bob and Jason trudging behind him, their chains clanking.

"Why did you send the other two?" one of the demons whispered to Azazel.

"I wanted a couple of demons to have someone to possess immediately. I'm still not quite sure of Sam's reaction when he sees what he's done. Right now, he's just obeying an order. When he realizes that he's freed all of Hell, he might get a tad rebellious.

SSS

Sam heard Billy Bob trying to say something to Jason. Now that some time had passed he felt bad about cutting their tongues out.

He turned around and saw Billy Bob tugging on Jason. They were going to try to make a break for it. He knew that he would be held responsible for any escape. He grabbed both sets of handcuffs, one in each hand and gave a tug and a meaningful look.

Jason meekly followed. He knew that being chained like they were they wouldn't get far. Maybe from Sam, but not from the rest of them. Billy Bob pulled back again and Sam hit him, knocking him out. He indicated to Jason to drag him the rest of the way.

SSS

"Bobby, I hear something," Dean whispered.

"Let's hide behind those trees," Bobby whispered back and they quickly rushed there.

Dean watched as three bald men approached. Two were in chains and one of those was dragging the other. The unchained man was tall and reminded Dean of Sam. It was the way he walked, mostly. He couldn't see his face and he had never seen Sam without his ridiculous mop of hair. Dean couldn't help but smile as he remembered how Sam had always fought Dad on getting hair cuts.

Dean nudged Bobby. The tall guy was sticking something into the hole next to the devil's trap. They both grabbed their guns and aimed. "Hold it!" Bobby yelled.

Sam turned to look. Dean! He had to open this, though. He turned the gun and the door swung open. Heat gushed out. He instinctively ran and pressed himself against one of the sides of the crypt. Dean and Bobby dived back behind their trees.

Billy Bob and Jason were rooted to the spot as tons of black smoke started pouring from the doors. They only had a moment to wonder what was going on before two demons found them and took possession of their bodies. The demons immediately broke the chains that bound their hands and feet.

Bobby and Dean clutched their anti-possession charms, afraid of what would happen if they were to fall off.

The demons knew of the three other humans in the vicinity, but they could feel the charms on two of them and knew the last one was strictly off limits. They would have to go elsewhere to find host bodies. They streamed to the edge of the cemetery and broke through the train tracks with a concerted effort.

Azazel smiled at his comrades. "Let's go find Sammy."

They disappeared and reappeared in front of the crypt, where demons and ghosts were still pouring out.


	20. Chapter 20

Azazel looked off to his right. "Dean," he said, as he saw his nemesis hiding behind some trees.

Dean stood up. He wasn't sure what he was going to do, but he hated that yellow-eyed bastard. If it hadn't been for him, he and Sam would have grown up normal with a mother and father and no hunting. And whatever had happened to Sam recently probably wouldn't have happened.

"You know, your father sold his soul for you don't you?"

Dean just stared at him. He knew. He had to live with it every day. He didn't need this stupid demon rubbing it in.

"Well, anyway, part of the deal was that I couldn't touch you. However, there was a one year time limit on that that ended today." Azazel flung out his hand and Dean was thrown into a tree. Then he put his hand out to apply more pressure.

Dean groaned in pain.

Sam watched this unfolding in front of him. He looked down at the Colt in his hands. He knew there was still one bullet in it. He knew he could kill the demon with it. But, he also remembered that he was a slave. He would be a slave forever, and if he killed the demon he would end up with an even worse master.

He heard the tree cracking behind Dean. He realized it didn't matter. Whatever happened to him didn't matter. He had to save Dean. He stood up, took aim and fired the final bullet into the demon's back.

The demon had one last second to turn around and see his killer. He had thought Sam completely broken. He should have realized that Dean was the one thing that could penetrate Sam's conditioning. He fell to the ground, hating Dean with his last dying thought.

Azazel hadn't shared the fact that there was only one bullet left in the gun. When the other demons saw what had happened to their leader they disappeared.

"We have to shut that door!" Bobby yelled.

Sam knew an order when he heard one and rushed to obey. Dean joined them as soon as he was able to lift himself from the ground. They had the door shut in a few seconds.

"Sammy?" Dean asked. He couldn't dare to believe it. Sam had died in his arms months ago. Yet, whoever this was had saved his life. That couldn't be a demon or a shapeshifter, or anything else besides Sam.

Sam looked up at Dean. Then he quickly looked down. He knew better than to make eye contact. That was against the rules. He was still a slave. Nothing would change that.

"We have to test him," Bobby decided. "Sam, stick out your arm."

Sam stuck his arm out. Bobby cut it with a silver knife. Sam didn't even flinch. He had had much worse than nicks.

Dean threw some salt on him, while Bobby offered him some holy water. He passed every test.

"Sammy?" Dean asked again. Sam hadn't said anything. He was just staring at the ground. "Sam, look at me," Dean demanded.

Sam looked up, but was still careful to avoid looking directly into Dean's eyes.

"Say something," Dean was getting frustrated.

No. He wasn't going to fall for that. He wasn't letting anybody cut his tongue out.

"Let's just take him home," Bobby said. He was hoping…he didn't know what he was hoping. Sam looked traumatized. He also looked strange with no hair. "What happened to your hair, Sam?"

Sam didn't answer.

Bobby shook his head. "Want to go home with us?"

Sam nodded his head. He wasn't sure when his next master would come for him, but he wanted to be with Dean and Bobby until he did. Then again, maybe he didn't. Maybe they would be in danger. He looked around in a panic.

"It's OK, Sam. Nothing's going to hurt you now." Except maybe the 200 demons you let out of hell, he thought to himself. He couldn't imagine why Sam would do that. They had so many unanswered questions.

Sam returned his gaze to the ground and followed behind Dean and Bobby to the Impala. He wasn't sure if he should get in the front or the back. He knew he always used to ride in the front, but his new status as a slave might relegate him to the back. He stood by the car hesitating.

"What's wrong, Sammy?" Dean asked as from next to the driver's side.

Of course, Sam didn't answer him. Dean walked over to him, gently cupped his chin and lifted Sam's eyes to meet his. Once he looked into Sam's eyes, any doubts about this being his brother faded away. He had known those eyes all of Sam's life. There was nothing or nobody who could fake those. He quickly grabbed Sam into a hug.

Sam struggled at first, assuming that Dean was going to hurt him in some way. After all, when was the last time someone had touched him without that aim. But, then he realized what was going on and he hugged Dean back. He started to cry. He didn't want this to end, but he knew it would. Some terrible master was going to come to reclaim him.

"It's OK, Sammy," Dean soothed as he heard Sam crying. He pushed back from him. "What happened to you? Where have you been? Have demons had you this whole time?"

Sam couldn't answer him. He wouldn't give anyone the satisfaction of removing his tongue. It was the only power he had.

"Why won't you talk?" Dean asked.

He remembered that Sam had nodded his head earlier, so he decided he would ask yes or no questions.

"Can you speak?"

Sam nodded.

"But you won't?"

Sam shook his head.

"Have you been with demons this whole time?"

Sam shook his head no.

"Did they hurt you?" Dean had no idea who he meant by they. The demons or whoever had Sam before the demons.

Sam wasn't sure either, but it didn't matter. The answer was yes in both cases so he nodded.

"Are you tired?"

Sam nodded.

"OK. You lay down in the back seat and get some sleep on the way back to Bobby's.

Sam got in back and Dean and Bobby got in the front. He wasn't sure if he wanted to fall asleep or not. He couldn't be sure that Dean would still be around when he woke up. But the exhaustion of the past few months took their toll and Sam fell to sleep to the comforting sound of the Impala's motor.


	21. Chapter 21

Sam had slept all the way to South Dakota. Dean had thrown a blanket over him.

"He still sleeping?" Bobby asked as he pulled into his junk yard.

Dean looked in the back seat. "Looks like it. Should we wake him up?"

That was a good question. "We don't want to spook him. Maybe we should wait."

They both got out of the car and shut the doors. Sam woke up when he heard the creaking. He sat up and got out of the car.

Dean gasped when he saw him. It had been dark in the cemetery. He had been mostly looking at Sam's face anyway. But, now in the light of day as his gaze swept down Sam's shirtless torso, he was shocked. There were burn marks and whip scars and knife marks. Was that a brand? What did those bastards do to him? He had to find out what happened to his brother.

"You won't talk, but will you write?"

Sam nodded.

When they got inside, Dean had a better idea. He fired up the computer. Sam could type faster than he could write and it would be a lot easier to read.

"Why won't you talk?" Dean asked.

_So my tongue won't be cut out_, Sam typed.

Who is going to cut out your tongue?

Sam just shrugged his shoulders. It would be his new master, but he didn't know who that was yet. They would come for him eventually, though.

Dean was confused. Sam thought someone would cut out his tongue, but he didn't know who? "Why would your tongue be cut out?" Maybe that would provide some enlightenment.

_I'm a slave. Slaves aren't allowed to talk._

"A demon slave?"

_I'm not sure. They took me over from the others. _

"The yellow eyed demon is dead. I think the others got possessed, so they'll be dead soon if they're not already. You can talk now," Dean assured Sam.

_Once a slave, always a slave._

"You've been emancipated," Bobby jumped in.

Sam wondered if that was possible. The demon had told him that slaves were always sold, passed on, or recaptured if they escaped. But, maybe Bobby was right.

Dean could see the uncertainty on Sam's face.

"Sammy, you can't possibly be a slave, because you don't have a master."

_A new master will come for me._

"Who told you that?"

_The demon. He said that every master is worse than the last._ Sam shuddered when he thought about it.

"Sam, nobody's coming for you. And if they do, I'll stop them," Dean said.

Almost against his will, Sam typed, _You didn't stop them last time._

Dean just stared at the screen. Like he didn't feel guilty enough. Not only hadn't he kept Sam from being taken, he hadn't even looked for him. Demons must have fooled him with a shapeshifter.

Sam looked up and saw Dean's face. He didn't mean to hurt his feelings. He didn't blame him. He just couldn't assume that Dean could save him all the time like used to. _Sorry. I didn't mean it._

"It's OK. It's true. But, I won't let it happen again. I promise."

Sam nodded.

"So, will you speak?" Dean asked.

Sam figured it really wouldn't matter that much if his tongue was cut out if he didn't use it anyway. It would hurt, but he was used to pain. "OK," he rasped out. It felt weird to speak. He hadn't for so long.

"You must be hungry," Bobby said.

Sam nodded.

"What do you want to eat?"

He hadn't had anything but food that was about to spoil, or burnt stuff. Basically stuff that would have been thrown out anyway, in a long time. Certainly nobody had asked his opinion on the matter. "Chicken?"

"OK," Bobby said. He wasn't sure if he had any, but he would go to the store if he had to. He looked in the freezer, gratified to find that wouldn't be necessary. He stuck it in the microwave to defrost it and left Sam and Dean alone in the other room.

SSS

The demons had scattered all over the place. They had lost their general, so to speak. Azazel had always played everything close to his breast and nobody knew his plans. They were now all out for themselves.

One of the demons didn't like the body he was in. It had no tongue. He couldn't speak. It was stupid. He smoked out of it in search of another.

Jason lay panting on the ground, wondering what had happened. Someone had to pay for all that had happened to him. He couldn't make those demons pay. He couldn't even admit to himself that demons existed. That left the slave. He had heard the demons call him Sammy.

SSS

After they had eaten, Sam lay down on the couch for more sleep. The events of the last few months had really taken their toll on him.

Dean looked at his torso again and felt so much rage. "What do you think they did to him, Bobby?" Dean asked.

They hadn't spoken much during supper. Sam had been inhaling food and Dean and Bobby had been trying not to stare at him and making him uncomfortable.

"Tortured him," Bobby whispered. He hated the thought of someone doing that to Sam.

Sam started moaning in his sleep. He was dreaming that they were drowning him again. He was trying to swim, but his hands were attached to his waist. He couldn't breathe. His head popped over the water and he took a deep breath just to be pushed down again. He was struggling to get back up again when he heard the demon yelling at him. "You OK, Sammy?" The demon was laughing. "Sammy," he taunted.

"Sammy," Dean was shaking him awake.

Sam jerked upright. "You OK, Sammy?" Dean asked.

Sam shuddered. Had the demon possessed Dean? He skittered back on the couch away from him. Maybe his new master was here. He hoped they didn't know that he had spoken earlier.


	22. Chapter 22

Sam shuddered. Had the demon possessed Dean? He skittered back on the couch away from him. Maybe his new master was here. He hoped they didn't know that he had spoken earlier.

"Sammy," Dean said, seeing the fear in Sam's eyes. It was going to be a long hard road. He could see that.

Sam looked at him. No. This wasn't the demon. This was Dean. He might not be able to tell the difference between anyone else and a demon, but he would always know Dean. "I'm OK," he whispered.

"Want a shirt," Dean said, throwing him one. He had kept Sam's bag in the Impala since he had been taken, and he had gone out the night before to gt it.

"Slaves don't wear shirts."

"You're not a slave anymore," Dean reminded him.

Sam nodded and pulled the shirt over his head. It felt weird.

"I fixed this guy's car recently. He was low on cash, so he told me I could use his house on the lake. I think you two should go for a week," Bobby said. He figured Sam could use a little time before being thrown back into society and Dean could use the time to find out what had happened and work through his guilt.

"Thanks, Bobby," Dean said.

SSS

Jason looked out of the window of his parents' old cabin on Blue Dog Lake. He couldn't believe his luck as he saw two men getting out of an old car. That was his slave. He would stay out of sight and get his plans ready. Shouldn't take more than a couple of days.

SSS

"So, Sammy, talk to me. Tell me what happened," Dean said, after he had prepared them hamburgers.

Sam sighed. "What do you want to know?"

"Everything from when we were in the bar with Gordon."

"I went outside. I was jumped from behind and pulled into a van. I think they used chloroform or something. They dosed me up a couple of times until we got to our destination."

"Where was that?" Dean said. He didn't know if there were people that needed to be taken care of, or more slaves like Sam.

"I honestly don't know. Somewhere where it snows in the winter and that has grass."

"OK, then what happened."

"I was locked in the dark with no contact with anyone for what felt like a week. When they let me out they said they were going to teach me a bunch of lessons. They taught me that I couldn't escape, by having traps and electronic triggers. They taught me to obey by torturing me. And they taught me that my life was in their hands by almost drowning me, or burying me and then digging me up when I was just about out of air and putting me in a ring of fire." Sam shuddered. "I don't want to talk about this."

"You have to. I have to know what happened to you, so that we can deal with it. How many of them were there?"

"Three. One of them was that other one from last year."

Dean shook his head in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"That crazy hillbilly family last year that kidnapped me. The old man, his three sons and the girl. It was one of the sons."

"There were only two sons," Dean said.

"No, there were three. I think the other one wasn't around when you got there."

"Why didn't you tell me there was another one?" Dean shouted.

Sam flinched and closed his eyes waiting to be hit. He slowly opened them when nothing happened.

"Sorry, Sammy. I didn't mean to yell. And you know I'd never hit you. But why didn't you mention there was a third guy?"

"I don't know. You said you got them all and I was a little out of it. I didn't realize that you thought there were only two sons."

Dean nodded. He was frustrated that this whole thing may have been avoided with better communication. "When did demons come into it?"

"A demon possessed one of them. I didn't know at the time, though. He brought home a girl. I think he said it was his new wife, or girlfriend, or something. But, she wanted no part of it. He said her name was Melody, but it was something else. I can't even remember her real name. He made me tie her down at night. I can only imagine he was raping her. And then one day…," Sam trailed off.

"What?" Dean asked.

"One day they had me dig a hole and they put her in a coffin and stuck her in and had me bury her. I thought they would dig her up again. I mean they always did with me. But, then they wouldn't let me." Sam couldn't help himself. He was crying. "I killed that poor girl."

"It wasn't your fault, Sam. If you hadn't done it, they would have done it themselves."

"But I did do it."

"Is that when the demon revealed himself?"

"No. I couldn't live with myself, so I went and jumped in the pool. I was always shackled. I figured I could drown myself. I didn't want to be their slave anymore."

Dean was shocked. He didn't think his brother would ever give up like that. On the other hand, he couldn't really blame him. "But you didn't die," he pointed out the obvious.

"They fished me out and reminded me that I lived and died at their whim. Then they took me down to the basement where I slept and tied me to my bed with barbed wire."

"That's when you found out it was the demon?" Dean was horrified.

"No, they did that whenever I was really bad."

Dean wasn't sure how much more he could take just listening to this. But, he considering Sam had had to live it, he was getting off pretty easily. "So, the demon," he prompted.

"He came down the next morning, or maybe a day later. There was no light down there, so I could never keep track of the passage of time. He told me he was the demon and then he brought me upstairs, broke my handcuffs and made me overseers of the other two guys. Of course, he brought along a couple of other demons to watch over me. Then he left for a couple of weeks."

"So, you were the overseer?"

"I cut out their tongues like they always threatened to do to me. How could I do that?"

Only Sam would feel guilty about doing unto someone else no worse than they had done to him. "There lucky they only had to deal with you and not me. I would have gotten creative."

"It's not funny, Dean. I became evil."

"No, you didn't."

"I opened up a devil's gate. We should be hunting those demons down," Sam just remembered the events of the day before.

"You're in no shape to hunt. Bobby called some other hunters. We'll join in when you're ready."

"I'm ready now," Sam said, with a defiant look. He wasn't going to be responsible for the end of the world.


	23. Chapter 23

"You're in no shape to hunt. Bobby called some other hunters. We'll join in when you're ready."

"I'm ready now," Sam said, with a defiant look. He wasn't going to be responsible for the end of the world.

"No, Sam. You're not going anywhere. You're staying here," Dean stated, firmly.

That was when Sam realized his mistake. Dean was obviously his new master. It wasn't so bad. Dean treated him well and hadn't made him do anything really. He wouldn't try to escape, of course, so hopefully Dean would go on treating him well.

"What's wrong?" Dean asked. There had been a sudden change in Sam's demeanor.

"I'm sorry. I just didn't realize."

"Realize what?"

"That you're my new master," Sam said, hanging his head down. He really shouldn't be looking directly at him. Apparently talking was OK.

"What are you talking about? I'm not your master. You're not a slave anymore." He thought Sam had understood that. Apparently this was going to be a one step forward, one step back kind of thing.

"You told me I'm staying here. I'm your prisoner. I'm your slave."

"I just don't want you off hunting," Dean said digging out his keys and handing them to Sam. "You can go whenever and where you like. You're in charge of yourself. But, if you're going to leave, I'd appreciate it if you took me with you, so I'm not stuck up here."

Sam hesitantly took the keys. He wasn't sure if this was a test or not. Sometimes he was just so confused. He looked up at Dean. There was no self-satisfied sneer of how he had won something. Sam gave him a tentative smile and Dean smiled back. Maybe Dean was telling the truth. Maybe he wasn't a slave anymore.

SSS

The lake had an underground spring running away from it. A spring that happened to run right under Jason's house. Years ago a well had been dug in the basement. Jason had worked enlarging the opening and making a cage. And then he really put his engineering degree to use. He made a machine to lower and raise the cage. He was going to dip Sam underwater for 10 seconds and then let him up for 10. Dip him for 20 seconds let him up for 10. Dip him for 30 seconds, let him up for 10. He would continue increasing the increments until Sam stopped breathing. He remembered that the drowning s were the pathetic slave's least favorite punishment. He couldn't wait to watch the look of fear in his eyes. It had taken three weeks and he was afraid that they would leave before then, but they were still there. He would grab him tonight after they went to bed.

SSS

Sam and Dean had spent those three weeks fishing, hiking, just relaxing. Day by day, Sam began to trust in his future more. Dean was beginning to relax a bit, too. He wasn't constantly expecting demons to come looking for Sam. If they hadn't come yet, there was a good chance that the Sam part of their plan was over.

"Dean, we need to get back into the hunt," Sam said. "I let all those demons out. Everything that's been going on is my fault."

"We don't even know that anything is going on," Dean pointed out.

"I'm sure there is. We just don't know because we're in the mountains, cut off from civilization."

"OK," Dean said. "We go into town, get a paper, see if there's any talk and then decide what to do."

"You go. I'll pack and clean up here. Whether anything is happening or not, we should leave in the morning. Bobby's responsible for this place so we can't leave our usual mess."

"Well, then why don't we just wait to find out the news tomorrow?" Dean asked.

"Because we should make a plan. Besides, now that we're going to leave, I'm just anxious to know what's been happening."

"Well, you should come with me and then we'll both pack up and clean when I get back."

"Are you afraid to leave me alone?" Sam asked.

Dean didn't answer.

"I'll be fine. Just go."

"Fine."

SSS

Jason heard a car engine. He ran to the window. Only one of them was in the car and it wasn't the slave. He barely contained himself as he waited for the car to drive out of view and then he grabbed his gun and ran next door.

SSS

Dean had gone about a mile when he realized he had forgotten his wallet. He could probably snag a paper with no money, but he had a few other things they needed and it would be easier now then trying to do it in the morning when they left. He figured Sam was probably going to figure that he was checking up on him, but it couldn't be helped. He turned around and headed back.

He pulled up to the house and saw that the door was wide open. He wished Sam was more careful. He got out of the car and heard a crash from inside. He ran up to the porch and through the door. Sam was fighting with some guy. Dean recognized him as one of those guys that were with Sam in the cemetery. One of his "owners." Sam was holding his own, but Dean didn't care. He had promised himself that he ever saw one of those guys again, they were dead. Dean pulled out his gun. "Hey!" he yelled.

Dean figured he would turn and look up so that he would have a clear shot. That wasn't what happened, though.

SSS

Jason had figured that Sam would just submit to the gun. He always had in the past. But this time, he tackled Jason. The gun had gone flying out of his hands. Sam had gone for it and they had landed in a big heap on the floor. They were both reaching for the gun when Jason heard the car pulling up. When he heard the other one coming through the door, he knew he had to get his gun now, or it was all over. He punched Sam and grabbed the gun.

SSS

As Dean watched Sam roll away as his tormentor got hold of a gun, Dean squeezed the trigger. It hit Jason square in the back of the head and he let go of the gun.

"Sammy!" Dean yelled as he ran in between his brother and the man he just shot. He couldn't be absolutely sure he was dead.

"I'm OK," Sam muttered.

Dean sighed in relief and bent down to check the man's pulse. He didn't have one. Dean was glad. "Let's clean up our mess, burn his bones and get out of here tonight," Dean decided.

"I'm with you," Sam agreed.

SSS

They called Bobby when they got back into cell range and filled him in on what had happened. "How's the demon war?" Dean asked.

"They don't seem to have much of a plan. Hunters have been exorcising them right and left."

"Really?" Dean asked.

"Yep. There have been 50 exorcisms since the gate opened. That's probably half of what was let out in the first place. And I have some good news."

"Well?" Dean asked, when nothing else came from the phone.

"When one of the demons was exorcised his host was dead."

"That's not exactly what I would call good news," Sam said confused. Dean had put the phone on speaker, so they could both hear what Bobby had to say.

"He didn't have a tongue."

"So, it's finally really over," Sam said, afraid to believe it.

"It's finally over," Bobby confirmed. "Now, you idgits get back here and we'll see if we can't hunt down a few of these demons ourselves."

"Yes, sir," Sam and Dean agreed.

The End.


End file.
